VPRS 5658 Court of Petty Sessions Default Registers

The 1904 Justices' Act incorporated the system of judgement by default into the civil jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions. This system provided that where a court issued a summons to a defendant for a civil claim and the defendant did not respond to the summons by giving notice of his or her intention to defend the claim, a judgement could be made against the defendant without a formal court hearing. This default procedure could be used in cases where the amount claimed was within the jurisdictional limit of the court and could be calculated according to a set scale. Where the amount of the claim could not be determined in this manner, but rather had to be judged by the court, the default procedure could not be used. By 1928 non-default cases were known as special complaints and were usually registered in separate Special Complaints Registers. Within the procedure for judgement by default two types of summonses were issued to initiate a proceeding. Where an ordinary default summons was issued and no defence was lodged, an order was made in favour of the complainant provided that the summons provided sufficient detail of the particulars of the claim. Where a special default summons was issued and no defence was lodged, the complainant was required to file further affidavits with the court to verify the particulars of the claim. Although the procedure for judgement by default still operates within Magistrates Courts, the terminology of Special Complaints and Default Cases is no longer used and the separate registration of these cases is no longer maintained. Default Registers (or Default Summons Registers) are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the complainant, the name of the defendant, 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.

《1904年治安法官法案》（Justices' Act 1904）将缺席判决（judgement by default）制度纳入即决裁判法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）的民事管辖范畴。该制度规定，若法院针对民事债权向被告送达传票，而被告未以提交答辩意向通知的方式对该传票作出回应，则法院可无需举行正式庭审即对被告作出缺席判决。该缺席审判程序可适用于债权金额处于法院管辖限额内且可按固定标准计算的案件。若债权金额无法按上述方式确定，而需由法院裁量判定，则不得适用该缺席审判程序。
至1928年，非缺席审判案件被称为“特别控诉（special complaints）”，通常会录入专门的《特别控诉登记册》（Special Complaints Registers）中。在缺席审判程序中，有两类传票可用于启动诉讼程序：若送达普通缺席传票（ordinary default summons）且被告未提交答辩，则只要该传票已充分列明债权具体细节，法院即可作出有利于原告的判决；若送达特别缺席传票（special default summons）且被告未提交答辩，则原告需向法院提交补充宣誓书（affidavit）以佐证债权具体细节。
尽管缺席审判程序仍在治安法院（Magistrates Courts）中适用，但“特别控诉”与“缺席案件”这两类术语已不再使用，相关案件的单独登记制度也已废止。缺席判决登记册（Default Registers，或称缺席传票登记册（Default Summons Registers））通常采用统一格式，记录案件编号、原告姓名、被告姓名、案件受理途径（传票类型及送达日期）、诉讼事由或程序概况、判决或裁定内容以及备注信息。为验证登记册中条目真实性，主持庭审的领薪治安法官（stipendiary magistrate）需每日终了时在登记册上签字。