VPRS 15084 Magistrates' Court Civil Complaint Register

Full description

In about 1990 separate default and special civil complaints were abolished and a single type of complaint was established encompassing both liquidated and unliquidated claims. These records detail complaints made under the single civil claim mechanism until these cases were registered on the Courtlink case management system.

Previously there were two mechanisms within Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates Courts for the redress of civil complaints - default and special 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, for example 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.