VPRS 2293 Court of Petty Sessions 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.

简易裁判法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）自1971年起更名为治安法院（Magistrates' Courts），负责处理范围极广的“轻微”法庭事务。其审理的案件类型随时间推移不断变化与扩充，涵盖四大核心管辖权范畴：刑事、民事、许可及家事法领域。除大量裁判庭外，简易裁判法院/治安法院是民事与刑事案件中最低层级的司法救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）、最高法院（Supreme Court）及各类联邦法院则负责审理更为严重的刑事案件与标的额更大的民事纠纷。1886年起，许可管辖权仅涵盖非酒类许可相关事务。

历经多届《治安法官法》及近期的《治安法院法》修订，要求各法院的书记员或登记官制作并留存所有定罪、裁定及其他诉讼程序的登记簿，该登记簿为法院的权威官方记录。1888年以前，此类记录被称为“案件目录簿（Cause List Book）”。

早期，多数书记员会为法院全部或大部分业务维护单一登记簿。本系列数据集包含的法院登记簿，混合了来自各类管辖权范畴的案件。后续，法院书记员被要求为特定类型的案件单独设立专属登记簿，部分法院亦开始为不同类型的案件增设额外登记簿。通常而言，以下类型的案件已设立单独登记簿：
- 儿童收养：儿童收养案件（1928年至1958年）
- 民事/传票案件：通过传票提交至法院的民事案件
- 联邦管辖：联邦管辖权案件（1915年起）
- 家事法：联邦家事法管辖案件（1975年起）
- 许可：酒类许可（1886年前）及非酒类许可申请
- 扶养：扶养案件（1928年至1975年）
- 警方/逮捕案件：由警方逮捕后提交至法院的案件
- 准刑事案件：通过传票提起的准刑事案件
- 特殊申诉：由法院裁定司法救济的民事案件（1928年至1979年）

当法院对案件登记进行细分时，每一类登记簿都会被分配不同的维多利亚州公共记录系列（Victorian Public Record Series, VPRS）编号，且登记簿类型会被纳入系列标题中。

法院登记簿通常采用统一格式，记录内容包括案件编号、公诉人或举报人（刑事案件场景下）、原告（民事案件场景下）或申请人（许可事项场景下）的姓名、被告人姓名、案件提请法院的方式（逮捕、搜查令、传票等）、累计产生的费用或诉讼成本、指控、案由或诉讼事项的详细说明、裁定或命令及备注信息。备注栏常被用于记录罚金与费用的缴纳情况。为核验登记簿中登记条目真实性，法院主审法官需于每日工作结束后签署登记簿。