VPRS 4918 County Court Registers, Part I, Common Law

Successive County Court Rules have required the Registrar of the court to keep a register of all verdicts, orders and judgements of the court. The register is the authoritative record of the court.This series was used to register common law actions. Examples include damages for negligence (motor car collision, master and servant claims), personal injuries, property damage / loss of profit.Registration ProcessAn entry in the register was initiated upon lodgement of a summons with the court by the solicitor acting on behalf of the plaintiff. Recordings were then made as the case progressed towards trial. Register details include the:- names and addresses of the plaintiff and defendant- number of the plaint- legal practitioner acting for the plaintiff- nature of the action- amount of the claim- date defence filed, and- order of the Judge.A considerable period of time (sometimes years) could elapse between the initial registration of a case and its completion, upon which the Judges order was added to the original register entry.Note that register entries are not always complete. One reason was that cases may have been settled before going to trial. Unsystematic recordkeeping practice may also have played a part in some instances. For example, an order may have been recorded on the case file only (the file raised to hold the various process documents relating to each case). Case files are not in Public Record Office custody.This series comprises one of three sequences of registers which, if all were used, collectively consitututes the entire County Court Register for the court in question. The three sequences were known as:County Court Register, Part I, Common LawCounty Court Register, Part II, Equity, andCounty Court Register, Part III, Probate and Administration.

历届郡法院（County Court）规则均要求法院书记官留存本法院所有裁决、裁定与判决的登记册，该登记册为本法院的权威档案记录。本系列登记册用于登记普通法诉讼（common law actions），示例涵盖过失侵权损害赔偿（如机动车碰撞事故、雇主与雇员索赔）、人身伤害赔偿、财产损失/利润损失赔偿。

### 登记流程
当代表原告的事务律师（solicitor）向法院提交传唤令状后，即可启动登记册的条目录入。后续随案件逐步推进至庭审阶段，同步完成相关记录。登记册详情包含以下内容：
- 原告与被告的姓名及住址
- 诉讼案号
- 原告委托的执业律师
- 诉讼性质
- 索赔金额
- 答辩状提交日期
- 法官作出的裁定

从案件初始登记到审结往往间隔较长时间（有时可达数年），待案件审结后，法官作出的裁定才会被追加至原登记条目内。

需注意，登记册条目并非始终完整。原因之一在于部分案件可能在庭审前即已和解；此外，部分案例中归档记录工作缺乏系统性，也可能导致登记条目不全。例如，相关裁定可能仅留存于案件卷宗中（即用于收纳各案件相关程序文书的卷宗），而此类卷宗并未由公共档案馆（Public Record Office）保管。

本系列登记册为三套登记序列之一，若三套序列完整留存，则可共同构成涉事郡法院的完整登记册。三套序列分别为：
1. 郡法院登记册第一部分：普通法（County Court Register, Part I, Common Law）
2. 郡法院登记册第二部分：衡平法（County Court Register, Part II, Equity）
3. 郡法院登记册第三部分：遗嘱认证与遗产管理（County Court Register, Part III, Probate and Administration）