VPRS 1876 Court of Petty Sessions / Magistrates' Court Commonwealth Register

Background : The Commonwealth Jurisdiction of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' CourtsSection 77(iii) of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, which established the Commonwealth of Australia, vested in the new Parliament of Australia responsibilities for enacting legislation relating to a large number of matters. It also gave Parliament the power to invest state courts with the jurisdiction to determine matters brought to court under Commonwealth legislation.From Federation, Victorian Courts of Petty Sessions heard matters brought to court under several Commonwealth Acts including taxation, electoral, wireless and television licensing and conciliation and arbitration legislation.Commonwealth RegistersSuccessive Justices' Acts and, more recently, Magistrates' Court Acts required the clerk or registrar of the court to make and keep a register of convictions, orders and other proceedings of the court. This register was the authoritative record of the court.In 1915 all Clerks of Courts were instructed to keep a separate register for matters under Commonwealth legislation (as described above) and for cases where the defendant resided in another state. Cases falling into either of these categories were recorded in Commonwealth registers. Commonwealth registers are very similar in format and purpose to other Petty Sessions registers.ContentCommonwealth registers were generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the prosecutor or informant, 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 (usually indicating the Act under which the charges had been laid), the decision or order and any remarks. The column for remarks was often used to record the payment of fines and fees.

一、背景：英联邦治安法院/裁判法院（Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Courts）管辖权限
1900年《澳大利亚联邦宪法法案》（Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900）第77条第(iii)款确立了澳大利亚联邦的框架，将制定涉及诸多领域法律的职权授予新生的澳大利亚联邦议会，同时赋予议会权限以授权州级法院行使管辖权，审理依据联邦法律诉至法院的相关案件。
自联邦成立以来，维多利亚州治安法院（Victorian Courts of Petty Sessions）便负责审理依据多部联邦法案提起的诉讼，涵盖税收、选举、无线电与电视许可，以及调解与仲裁类立法相关事项。

二、联邦登记册（Commonwealth Registers）
历任《治安法官法案》以及近期的《裁判法院法案》均要求法院书记员或司法书记官制作并留存法院的定罪记录、裁判文书及其他诉讼程序登记册，该登记册为法院的权威诉讼档案。
1915年，所有法院书记员均被要求为两类案件单独设立登记册：一是前文所述的依据联邦法律提起的诉讼，二是被告人居住于其他州的案件。归入上述任一类别之案件均须录入联邦登记册。联邦登记册的格式与用途与其他治安法院登记册高度相似。

三、登记册内容
联邦登记册通常采用统一格式，记录案件编号、检察官或告发人姓名、被告人姓名、案件启动方式（逮捕、逮捕令、传票等）、产生的诉讼费用、指控事由或诉讼事项（通常载明指控所依据的法案）、裁判结果或命令，以及其他备注信息。备注栏通常用于记录罚金与诉讼费用的缴纳情况。