VPRS 5085 Court of Petty Sessions Cause List Books (1866-1888); Court of Petty Sessions Registers (1888-1967)

Courts of Petty Sessions (now known as Magistrates' Courts) dealt with a very large range of "minor" court matters. Cases were heard in three jurisdictions: criminal, civil, and licensing. In the nineteenth century they provided the lowest level of redress in civil and criminal matters. The County Court and the Supreme Court heard and determined more serious criminal cases and larger civil disputes. The licensing jurisdiction included both liquor and non-liquor licensing matters until 1886 when separate liquor Licensing Courts were established.Successive Justices Acts required clerks of Petty Sessions to keep a record of all decisions and orders made by Courts of Petty Sessions. This record is the authoritative record of the court. Until about 1888, volumes used for this purpose were called Cause List Books (a cause meaning a case). Most Courts of Petty Sessions dealt with criminal, civil and licensing matters as they arose. Accordingly, Cause List Books generally give details of all these types of cases. Only the largest and busiest courts recorded civil, criminal and licensing matters separately.Cause List Books are generally in a common format. At the top of each page are recorded details of the name of the court, the date of sitting and the name of the Chairman of the court and other presiding officer(s). For each case heard, details are given of the name of the complainant, defendant, any fees to be paid, the cause (ie the criminal charge or the nature of the civil claim), the decision and any remarks. The remarks column was sometimes used to record the payment of fines or fees. In order to authenticate entries made in the Cause List Book the presiding officer(s) of the court signed it at the end of each day.There are no volumes in this series for the years 1878 - 1884.

小额诉讼法院（Courts of Petty Sessions，现通称为治安法院（Magistrates' Courts））处理范围极广的“轻微”法庭事务。其管辖范畴涵盖三类：刑事、民事及许可类事务。十九世纪时，该类法院是民事与刑事事务中最低层级的救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）与最高法院（Supreme Court）负责审理并裁决更为严重的刑事案件及标的额更大的民事纠纷。直至1886年设立独立的酒类许可法院之前，许可类管辖范畴同时涵盖酒类与非酒类许可事务。后续多部《治安法官法》（Justices Acts）要求小额诉讼法院的书记员留存该法院所有裁决与命令的记录，此类记录即为该法院的权威档案。直至1888年前后，用于记录此类事务的卷宗被称为案件清单簿（Cause List Books，其中“cause”一词意为“案件”）。绝大多数小额诉讼法院会随案处理刑事、民事及许可类事务，因此案件清单簿通常会详细记录上述所有类型的案件。仅规模最大、业务最繁忙的法院会将民事、刑事及许可类事务分开记录。案件清单簿通常采用统一格式：每页顶部会记录法院名称、开庭日期、法院庭长及其他主审法官的姓名；针对每起审理中的案件，卷宗会记录投诉人、被告人的姓名，需缴纳的各项费用，案件事由（即刑事指控内容或民事诉求性质）、裁决结果及相关备注。备注栏有时会用于记录罚金或费用的缴纳情况。为验证案件清单簿中录入内容的真实性，法院主审法官需于每日庭审结束后签署该簿册。该系列卷宗中缺少1878年至1884年的部分。