AGY-3918 | Metropolitan District [Court of General and Quarter Sessions]

Full description

The Metropolitan District of the Courts of General and Quarter Sessions was established by 16 January 1903 when the meetings of the Courts within the Division were proclaimed. The Division replaced the former Metropolitan, Suburban and Hunter District of the Court, the other courts of which were transferred to the Western, Northern, Southern and Hunter Districts. The staff of the District consisted of up to three Chairmen of Quarter Sessions who were also Judges of the District Court, Crown Prosecutors and a Clerk of the Peace. Throughout most of its existence there was a sole Court in the Metropolitan Division - the Sydney Court - although hearings were also conducted at Balmain between 1954 and 1961. The Court heard less serious criminal cases. The dates of the hearings were proclaimed in the New South Wales Government Gazette at the beginning of each year. The Metropolitan District was abolished on 30 June 1973 when the Courts of General and Quarter Sessions were discontinued and replaced by the criminal jurisdiction of the District Court of New South Wales. Reference
Law Almanac, NSW Government Printer, 1903 - 1973