VPRS 6201 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.

小额裁判法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）的特别管辖权，正式由1928年《治安法官法》（Justices' Act 1928）确立。自此，小额裁判法院/裁判法院（Magistrates' Courts）内设有两类民事诉求救济机制。
普通管辖权（ordinary jurisdiction）赋予法院审理损害赔偿或债务案件的权限，前提是诉求的精确金额可依据某项客观标准确定。例如交付货物的债务追偿。适用普通民事管辖权的诉讼，通常采用缺席判决（judgement by default）制度：若被告未就传票提交答辩通知以表明其抗辩意图，法院可不经正式开庭审理，直接作出有利于原告的判决。
在特别管辖权模式下，法院自行确定适当的救济金额，且受更高的管辖限额约束。机动车交通事故引发的损害赔偿诉求，通常由特别管辖权程序处理。该模式下，由领薪治安法官（stipendiary magistrate）主持庭审，而非治安法官（justices of the peace）。
1979年《裁判法院（民事管辖权）法》（Magistrates' Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act 1979）废除了普通诉求与特别诉求的区分，确立了统一的民事管辖权。彼时需单独设立登记册以记录特别诉求。特别诉求登记册（Special Complaints Registers）通常采用统一格式，需载明案件编号、原告姓名、被告姓名、案件受理方式（传票类型与日期）、案由或诉讼程序说明、判决或裁定内容，以及备注信息。为认证登记册内的条目，主持庭审的领薪治安法官需于每日结束时签署登记册。