VPRS 1974 Court of Petty Sessions Cause List Books

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Cause List Books were created at Kew Court of Petty Sessions from 1862 until 1888, after which the equivalent records created were known as Court of Petty Sessions Registers (VPRS 1975).

The Jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions and Magistrates' Courts

Courts of Petty Sessions, or Magistrates' Courts as they have been called since 1971, dealt with a very large range of "minor" court matters. Apart from a large number of tribunals, they provide the lowest level of redress in civil and criminal matters, with the County Court, the Supreme Court and various Commonwealth courts hearing and determining more serious criminal cases and larger civil disputes.

The jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions / Magistrates' Courts has changed, and on the whole increased over time, but has usually included the following types of cases:

The criminal jurisdiction includes all offences under Summary Offences legislation including traffic offences, minor assault and drug offences, obscene language, trespass. A number of more serious offences known as indictable offences may be tried in either the Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court or a higher court. These include theft up to a certain value, burglary, indecent assault, offences against prostitution regulation legislation, criminal damage to property, occupational health and safety offences. Committal proceedings are also conducted in Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Courts in order to determine whether a case involving a more serious offence should proceed to a higher court.

The civil jurisdiction includes claims for debts arising out of contractual disputes, claims for losses arising out of a breach of duty such as negligence, claims for damages arising out of motor vehicle accidents or assaults and claims for taxes due.

The licensing jurisdiction has diminished in the twentieth century. At different times it has included the issue of licenses for gold buyers, auctioneers, carriers, pawnbrokers, estate agents, commercial agents and sub agents, inquiry agents, hawkers and pedlars. By 1991 the only licences still issued by Magistrates' Courts were for commercial agents and sub-agents and hawkers and pedlars.

The family law jurisdiction includes matters relating to child support assessment, maintenance, custody, guardianship, access, change of name, marriage of under age persons, property interests of de facto partners and, since 1987, family violence intervention orders. From the ?1930's until the ?1950's Courts of Petty Sessions were also responsible for granting adoptions.

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. This record is the authoritative record of the court. 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.

In the nineteenth century most Courts of Petty Sessions dealt with criminal, civil and licensing (other than liquor/publican's licensing) matters as they arose. Accordingly Cause List Books generally give details of all these types of cases. Only the largest and busiest courts recorded civil, criminal and licensing matters separately.

In the nineteenth century Justices of the Peace were also responsible for the granting of publicans' licences and from at least the 1880's Justices of the Peace presided over Licensing Courts which operated in each licensing district. On some occasions Cause List Books also include Licensing Court records, although usually separate registers were maintained.

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.

In order to authenticate entries made in the Cause List Book the presiding officer(s) of the court signed it at the end of each day.