VPRS 2428 Court Of Petty Sessions Cause List Books

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.

小额诉讼法庭（Courts of Petty Sessions，现称治安法院（Magistrates' Courts））管辖范围覆盖极为广泛的‘轻微’司法事务。该类法庭依刑事、民事及许可三类管辖范畴审理案件。19世纪时，其为民事与刑事事项中最低层级的司法救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）与最高法院（Supreme Court）则审理并裁决更为严重的刑事案件及标的额更高的民事纠纷。在1886年单独设立酒类许可法庭（Liquor Licensing Courts）之前，其许可管辖范畴同时涵盖酒类与非酒类许可两类事务。历次《治安法官法》（Justices Acts）要求小额诉讼法庭的书记员留存该法庭作出的所有裁决与命令的完整记录，此类记录为该法庭的权威档案。1888年以前，用于该记录用途的卷宗被称为案件登记簿（Cause List Books），其中‘cause’一词意指案件。绝大多数小额诉讼法庭会随案处理刑事、民事及许可类事务，因此案件登记簿通常会详细记载所有上述类型的案件。仅规模最大、业务最为繁忙的法庭才会将民事、刑事及许可类事务分开记录。案件登记簿通常采用统一格式：每页顶部会记录法庭名称、开庭日期、法庭庭长及其他主审法官的姓名；对于每起已审理的案件，登记簿会载明控告人（刑事程序）与原告（民事程序）、被告的姓名，应缴费用、案件事由（即刑事指控或民事诉求的性质）、裁决结果及附注说明。附注栏有时会用于记录罚金或费用的缴纳情况。为确保案件登记簿中记载内容的真实性，法庭主审法官需在每日庭审结束后签署该登记簿。