VPRS 13315 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court Special Complaints Register

The special jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions was formally established by the Justices' Act 1928. From this time there were two mechanisms within Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Courts for the redress of civil complaints.The "ordinary" jurisdiction empowered the court to determine cases for damages or debts where the precise amount of the claim could be determined according to some objective scale. An example would be the recovery of a debt for goods delivered. Claims brought to court in the ordinary civil jurisdiction often used the system of judgement by default. This system provided that where a respondent did not respond to a summons by giving notice of his or her intention to defend the claim, a judgement could be made in favour of the complainant without a formal court hearing.In its "special" jurisdiction the court itself determined the appropriate amount of redress and operated within a higher jurisdictional limit. Claims for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident were typically handled in the special jurisdiction. In the special jurisdiction a stipendiary magistrate would preside rather than justices of the peace.The Magistrates' Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act 1979 abolished the distinction between ordinary and special complaints and established a single civil jurisdiction.A separate register was required to be kept for recording special complaints. Special Complaints Registers are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the complainant, the name of the respondent, how the case came to the court (type and date of summons), a description of the cause or proceeding, the decision or order and any remarks. In order to authenticate entries made in the register the presiding stipendiary magistrate signed it at the end of each day.

1928年《治安法官法》（Justices' Act 1928）正式确立了小额裁判法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）的特别管辖权。自此，小额裁判法院/治安法院（Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Courts）内设有两种民事申诉救济机制。其“普通管辖权”赋予法院审理损害赔偿或债务案件的权限，前提是索赔金额可依据某项客观标准确定，例如交付货物的债权追偿。适用普通民事管辖权的诉讼通常采用缺席判决制度：若被告未就传唤通知提交答辩意向书，法院可不经正式庭审直接作出有利于原告的判决。在“特别管辖权”项下，法院自行确定适当的救济金额，且受更高的管辖限额约束。机动车事故引发的损害赔偿索赔通常适用特别管辖权程序。特别管辖权程序由领薪治安法官（stipendiary magistrate）主持，而非太平绅士（justices of the peace）。1979年《治安法院（民事管辖权）法》（Magistrates' Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act 1979）废除了普通申诉与特别申诉的区分，确立了统一的民事管辖权。在此之前，需单独设立登记册以记录特别申诉案件，特别申诉登记册通常采用统一格式，载明案件编号、原告姓名、被告姓名、案件受理方式（传唤的类型与日期）、案由或诉讼程序描述、判决或裁定及备注信息。为验证登记册中条目的真实性，每日庭审结束后需由主持的领薪治安法官签字确认。