VPRS 1569 Court of Petty Sessions Register

Courts of Petty Sessions, known since 1971 as Magistrates' Courts, have dealt with a very large range of "minor" court matters. The types of cases heard, which have changed and increased over time, fall within four broad jurisdictions: criminal, civil, licensing and family law. Apart from a large number of tribunals, Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates Courts provide the lowest level of redress in civil and criminal matters. The County Court, the Supreme Court and various Commonwealth courts have heard and determined more serious criminal cases and larger civil disputes. The licensing jurisdiction since 1886 has comprised non-liquor licensing matters only.Successive Justices' Acts, and more recently Magistrates' Court Acts, have required the clerk or registrar of each Court to make and keep a register of all convictions, orders and other proceedings of the Court. This register is the authoritative record of the Court. Until about 1888 this record was known as a Cause List Book.Initially, most clerks maintained a single register for all or most of the Court's business. This series comprises a Court Register which includes a mixture of cases from the various jurisdictions. Subsequently Clerks of Court were instructed to create separate registers for certain types of cases. Some Courts also began to maintain additional registers for different types of cases. Typically, separate registers have been established for the following cases:Register Used ForAdoption of Children Adoption of children (1928 to 1958)Civil/Summons Cases brought to court by summonsCommonwealth Commonwealth jurisdiction (from 1915)Family Law Commonwealth family law jurisdiction (from 1975)Licence Liquor (pre 1886) and non-liquor licence applicationsMaintenance Maintenance cases (1928 to 1975)Police/Arrest Cases brought to court by police arrestQuasi Criminal cases brought by summonsSpecial Complaints Civil cases where Court determines redress (1928 to 1979)Where courts have subdivided the registration of cases, each Register has been allocated a different Victorian Public Record Series (VPRS) number and the type of register has been included in the series title.Court Registers are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the prosecutor or informant (in a criminal matter), complainant (in a civil matter), or applicant (in a licensing matter), the name of the accused or defendant, how the case came to the court (arrest, warrant, summons etc), the fees or court costs accrued, a description of the charge, cause or proceeding, the decision or order and any remarks. The column for remarks was often used to record the payment of fines and fees. In order to authenticate entries made in the register the presiding officer(s) of the court signed the register at the end of each day.

自1971年起更名为裁判法院（Magistrates' Courts）的治安法院（Courts of Petty Sessions），历来处理范围极广的“小额”法庭事务。其审理的案件类型随时间推移不断演变与扩充，涵盖四大核心管辖领域：刑事、民事、许可及家事法范畴。除大量专门裁判庭外，治安法院/裁判法院是民事与刑事案件中最低层级的司法救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）、最高法院（Supreme Court）及各类联邦法院（Commonwealth courts）则负责审理更为严重的刑事案件与标的额更大的民事纠纷。1886年起，许可管辖权仅涵盖非酒类许可相关事务。

历代《治安法官法》（Justices' Acts）及近年出台的《裁判法院法》（Magistrates' Court Acts）均要求各法院的书记官或登记官（registrar）编制并留存所有定罪裁决、法院命令及其他诉讼程序的登记册。该登记册是法院的权威官方记录。1888年以前，此类记录被称为案由清单簿（Cause List Book）。

早期，多数书记官会为法院全部或大部分业务维护单一登记册。本系列档案即为包含各类管辖领域案件的法院登记册。此后，法院书记官被要求针对特定类型案件分别设立登记册，部分法院亦开始为不同类型案件增设专项登记册。通常而言，下列案件会设立单独登记册：
1. 儿童收养：1928年至1958年的收养案件
2. 民事/传票案件：以传票形式提交至法院的案件
3. 联邦管辖：1915年起的联邦管辖案件
4. 家事法：1975年起的联邦家事法管辖案件
5. 许可：1886年以前的酒类许可及所有非酒类许可申请
6. 赡养费：1928年至1975年的赡养费纠纷案件
7. 警方/逮捕案件：由警方逮捕后提交至法院的案件
8. 准刑事：以传票形式提起的准刑事案件
9. 特别申诉：1928年至1979年由法院裁定救济的民事案件

若法院对案件登记进行了细分，则每份登记册会被赋予不同的维多利亚公共记录系列（Victorian Public Record Series, VPRS）编号，且登记册类型会被纳入系列标题中。

法院登记册普遍采用统一格式，需记录以下信息：案件编号、公诉人或报案人（刑事案件中）、原告（民事案件中）或许可申请人（许可案件中）姓名、被告人或被申请人姓名、案件进入法院的方式（逮捕、搜查令、传票等）、产生的费用或诉讼成本、指控事由或诉讼缘由、裁决结果或法院命令，以及备注信息。备注栏通常用于记录罚金与费用的缴纳情况。为确保登记条目真实有效，法院主审法官需在每日结束时签署登记册。