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Series VPRS
1664
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Cause List Books - Police
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| Date Range: |
Series |
? 1868 - 1888 |
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Series in Custody |
1868 - 1888 |
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Contents |
1868 - 1888 |
| Public Access: |
Open |
| Location: |
North Melbourne |
| Format of Records: |
Physical |
  | Agency which created this SeriesAgency which created this Series |
| Agency currently responsible for this SeriesAgency currently responsible for this Series |
| Description of this SeriesDescription of this Series |
- How to use the Records
Function/Contents
This series consists of Cause List Books which cover Police Cases heard in the Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions. Police cases were those where the accused was brought to trial via police arrest as opposed to summons or warrant.
Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions Cause List Books for the period prior to 1868 are located in VPRS 1659. Cause List Books - Civil Cases from this court are located in VPRS 1662.
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.
Content
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.
Arrangement
Entries in the Cause List Books were made in chronological order according to the date they were heard by the court and each case received a consecutive number. At most courts this numbering sequence reverted to 1 at the commencement of each day the court sat. Thus cases were identified by the date of hearing and their number. This identifying symbol was annotated onto all documents lodged with the court prior to or during the case.
Related Records
Other types of registers from this court are listed in the Inventory of Series and in the List of Holdings 1985 section 2.152.0.
Several types of warrants, summonses, informations (ie statements by witnesses and parties to the case informing the court about the case) and other documents were also lodged with or created by the court in the process of administering each case. The documents were known as "process" and were placed together to create a case file. In most instances files dating from the nineteenth century have been destroyed.
- Function / Content
- Recordkeeping System
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