VPRS 1344 Court of Petty Sessions Register

Full description

This series consists of a variety of different Court of Petty Sessions registers created by the Footscray Courts (VA 674). The types of registers held and the time periods are:

- Cause List Books Civil and Police, May 1860 - July 1861
- Civil Registers, May 1888 - July 1952
- Police/Arrest Registers, January 1905 -November 1950
- Default Registers July 1924 - February 1944
- Commonwealth Cases Registers April 1916 - October 1950, and
- Special Complaint Registers October 1929 - January 1948.

Usually these different types of registers would be registered as separate PROV series. The current arrangement reflects how these records were originally transferred to archives, most likely prior to the formation of PROV.

The Jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions and Magistrates' Courts

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.

Cause List Books and Court Registers

Successive Justices Acts required Clerks of Petty Sessions to keep a record of all decisions and orders made by Courts of Petty Sessions. Until about 1888 volumes used for this purpose were called Cause List Books (a cause meaning a case: either a civil claim or a criminal matter). Thereafter they were known as Registers, and although their format altered slightly, their purpose remained the same.

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.

Initially, most clerks maintained a single register for all or most of the Court's business. 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.

Civil/Summons Register and Police Arrest Register

Civil or Summons Registers record details of cases where the defendant was brought to court by means of a summons and include civil cases and cases of a quasi-criminal nature. The other main mechanism for bringing defendants to court was by arrest.

Police or Arrest Registers record details of criminal cases where the defendant was arrested by the police and brought by them to court. The other main mechanism for bringing defendants to court was by summons.

Civil or Summons and Police/Arrest Registers are generally in the same format as all other Petty Sessions Registers, 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 (in all cases this would state "arrest"), 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.

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.

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.

Commonwealth Register

Section 77(iii) of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 vested the new Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia with the power to invest state courts with the jurisdiction to determine matters brought to court under Commonwealth legislation. Courts of Petty Sessions, known since 1971 as Magistrates' Courts, have included a Commonwealth jurisdiction since Federation. Cases have been brought to these courts under Commonwealth Acts dealing with various matters including taxation, electoral matters, wireless and television licensing and conciliation and arbitration. In 1915 all Clerks of Court were instructed to keep a separate register for matters heard under Commonwealth legislation and for cases where the defendant resided in another state. Cases falling into either of these categories were recorded in Commonwealth Registers

Special Complaints Register

The special jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions was formally established by the Justices' Act 1928. From this time there were two mechanisms within Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Courts for the redress of civil complaints.

The "ordinary jurisdiction empowered the court to determine cases for damages or debts where the precise amount of the claim could be determined according to some objective scale. An example would be the recovery of a debt for goods delivered. Claims brought to court in the ordinary civil jurisdiction often used the system of judgement by default. This system provided that where a respondent did not respond to a summons by giving notice of his or her intention to defend the claim, a judgement could be made in favour of the complainant without a formal court hearing.

In its "special jurisdiction the court itself determined the appropriate amount of redress and operated within a higher jurisdictional limit. Claims for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident were typically handled in the special jurisdiction. In the special jurisdiction a stipendiary magistrate would preside rather than justices of the peace.

A separate register was required to be kept for recording special complaints. Special Complaints Registers are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the complainant, the name of the respondent, 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.