VPRS 14427 CMS (Case Management System) Database

Full description

This series consists of an export of the digital database used by Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to allocate control numbers to case files for criminal trials, direct presentments, larger legal advice files, and other miscellaneous files.

The Case Management System database (CMS) was used by DPP between approximately 1987 and 1997, although the exact start and end dates are unknown.

Prior to CMS, VPRS 8086 Card Register to Criminal Trial Briefs was used to control the criminal trial briefs by allocating file numbers. Entries on this card index relating to some of the earlier briefs were back-entered into CMS at some time after 1987, so the same system of annual single number file numbers was in use across both systems. Entries can be found dating from as far back as 1971 – it is assumed that older cases that were still open at the time the CMS was introduced were the cases back-entered into the database.

The only series controlled by CMS in PROV custody is VPRS 30 Criminal Trial Briefs, which ends in 1996. Whether there are any other series extant that were controlled by this database is subject to further research.

The database records summary information about DPP cases. It’s split into multiple sheets within the one Microsoft Excel file. The different sheets are titled:

• Query1
• Barr [appears to be summary information about barristers and clerks]
• Case [high-level summary details of each case]
• CommittalCharge [summary details of each charge, there can be many rows for each individual accused]
• Cord
• Decease
• Defendant [includes name, address, and bail conditions]
• Detail [appears to include a summary of all information related to an individual accused]
• Kidnap [kidnapping cases only]
• Mis
• PrepOff
• PrepTeam
• Present
• Report
• Surety [appears to document who paid an accused’s bail, includes their address]

Each sheet contains multiple columns of data – some have column headings, but some do not. Therefore it isn’t clear what the purpose of some of the sheets were. Multiple sheets (Case, CommittalCharge, Detail) include both the name and case number for criminal cases, as well as other summary information such as dates, charges, and pleas.

In 1996/1997 CMS was replaced by VPRS 14415 PRISM database (Prosecution Records Information Systems Management), and at the same time VPRS 30 was replaced by VPRS 14414 Prosecution and Litigation Records. These series should be consulted for records from 1996 onwards.