VPRS 3210 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court Civil/Summons Register

Full description

Successive Justices' Acts and, more recently, Magistrates' Court Acts have required the clerk or registrar of the 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.

In the twentieth century many courts, particularly larger ones, maintained several sequences of registers according to different types of matters dealt with by the court. Typically, separate registers were maintained according to the means by which the defendant was brought to court. 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.

Civil/Summons 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 "summons"), 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.