VPRS 11032 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court 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年起更名为治安法院（Magistrates' Courts）的小额诉讼法院（Courts of Petty Sessions），历来处理范围极广的各类“轻微”司法事务。其审理的案件类型随时间推移不断演变并拓展，涵盖四大核心司法管辖范畴：刑事、民事、许可及家事法领域。除大量专门裁判庭外，小额诉讼法院/治安法院是民事与刑事案件中层级最低的司法救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）、最高法院（Supreme Court）及各类联邦法院（Commonwealth courts）负责审理更为重大的刑事案件与涉案标的更大的民事争议。自1886年起，其许可管辖范畴仅涵盖非酒类许可相关事务。

历代《治安法官法》及近年出台的《治安法院法》均要求各法院的书记员或登记官编制并留存该院所有定罪判决、法院裁定及其他诉讼程序的登记册。该登记册为法院的权威档案。直至1888年前后，此类档案尚被称为“案由登记簿（Cause List Book）”。

早期，多数书记员仅编制一份登记册，涵盖法院全部或绝大多数司法事务。本系列档案即属于此类综合法院登记册，收录了来自各类司法管辖范畴的混合案件。后续法院书记员被要求针对特定类型的案件单独编制登记册，部分法院亦开始为不同类型的案件增设专属登记册。通常，法院会为以下类型的案件设立专属登记册：
1. 儿童收养（Adoption of Children）：1928年至1958年的儿童收养案件
2. 民事/传票案件（Civil/Summons）：以传票形式提请法院审理的案件
3. 联邦管辖（Commonwealth）：1915年起的联邦司法管辖案件
4. 家事法（Family Law）：1975年起的联邦家事法管辖案件
5. 许可（Licence）：1886年以前的酒类许可及各类非酒类许可申请
6. 扶养（Maintenance）：1928年至1975年的扶养纠纷案件
7. 警方/逮捕案件（Police/Arrest）：经警方逮捕后提请法院审理的案件
8. 准刑事（Quasi Criminal）：以传票形式提起的准刑事案件
9. 特殊申诉（Special Complaints）：1928年至1979年由法院裁定司法救济的民事案件

若法院对案件登记进行了细分，则每一份登记册都会被赋予专属的维多利亚州公共档案系列（Victorian Public Record Series, VPRS）编号，且登记册类型会被纳入系列名称之中。

法院登记册通常采用统一格式，记录的信息包括：案件编号、检察官或告发人（刑事案件中）、原告或申诉人（民事案件中）或许可申请人（许可类案件中）的姓名、被告人或被申请人姓名、案件提请法院的方式（逮捕、搜查令、传票等）、产生的诉讼费用、指控事由、诉讼缘由或程序详情、裁判结果或法院裁定，以及备注信息。备注栏通常用于记录罚金与诉讼费用的缴纳情况。为确保登记条目真实有效，法院主审法官需于每日庭审结束后在登记册上签字确认。