Record series
Prosecution and Litigation Records
VPRS 14414
1996 - present
Closed, Not set
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Office of Public Prosecutions (Known as Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1983-1995) ( VA2550 ): 1996 - present
Agencies responsible for this record series: Date Range
Series date range: 1996 - present
Series in custody:
1996 - 2013
Contents in custody:
1994 - 2015
Function / Content
These records are created by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (OPP) in the course of prosecuting persons accused of criminal offences.Many files include a cover sheet, summarising aspects of the case such as the court at which committal took place, the name of the accused, pleas entered, bail outcomes, court trial dates, adjournments and mentions, offences, verdicts and informant details.
Some files are labelled T, W or D to indicate Transcripts, Work progress files or Depositions. The name(s) of those accused or the operation resulting in charges being laid may also appear on the cover sheet.
A file with multiple defendants will have multiple identifying numbers. A single file in the P1 consignment may be identified as "ZB93, ZB94, ZB95" or "9603214, 9603215, 9603216, 9603218, 9603219, 9603220".
Some files are labelled with a further number or sequence of numbers, indicating that they have been allocated a number in both PRISM and CMS.
How to use the records
Use the name of the defendant(s), the prosecutor, the charges or other available case details to search VPRS 14415 PRISM (Prosecution Records Information Systems Management) Database for the case number. The free-text field in PRISM links PRISM case numbers to case numbers from the previous numbering system.Some cases pre-1997 may not have a corresponding entry in the PRISM database. For these cases, search for the defendant's name in VPRS 14427 CMS (Case Management System) Database.
Recordkeeping system
Identifiers generated by PRISM are annual single numbers of the form 9601208. The first two digits represent the year (including files for year 2000 and later) and the following five are the sequence number. For instance, the tenth case of 1997 would be 9700010.The numbers were transcribed onto blank sheets of paper and attached to the front of prosecution and litigation records, along with the names of defendants.
