Record series
Orders to Review
VPRS 274
1888 - 1989
Open
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Supreme Court of Victoria ( VA2549 ): 1888 - present
Agencies responsible for this record series: Supreme Court of Victoria ( VA 2549 ): 1888 - present
Date Range
Series date range: 1888 - 1989
Series in custody:
1888 - 1989
Contents in custody:
1888 - 1989
Function / Content
This series consists of the Orders to Review for which applications were made to the Supreme Court. Most files contain the original affidavit, and may also contain an Order Nisi, an Order Absolute and a statement of costs. The summary of the court proceedings may be found in VPRS 5367 Court Books.The Justices of the Peace Act 1887 provided that 'Where any person who feels aggrieved by the actions or order of a Court of Petty Sessions could, by affidavit, apply to the Supreme Court or a judge thereof for an order.' (Part VI (2)) Accordingly, Orders to Review were a means of appealing to the Supreme Court against a judgment brought in a Court of Petty Sessions and from 1971, the Magistrates' Court, in both the civil and criminal jurisdictions. This is effectively a judicial review where a Supreme Court judge reviews a decision made by a Victorian lower court, tribunal, public official or body (for example, a local council, minister or public servant). From 1958 cases were generally heard under the Justices Act 1958 in conjunction with other acts such as the Lotteries Gambling and Betting Act 1966 or the Local Government Act 1958, depending on the nature of the complaint. From 1971 cases were generally reviewed under the Magistrates' Act 1971 or directly from other legal bodies.
The P0001 consignment of this series was previously registered as VPRS 5595 Stephens v Abrahams Document A Estray. It is a document from case number 1688, Stephens v. Abrahams, and is Document A referred to in the Affidavit of Albert Walter Chartres. It was reserialised in 2001.
How to use the records
Cases in the C1 consignment (orders dated 1961 to 1989) can be searched by case number, informant or defendant however cases in the P0002 consignment (cases dated 1941 to 1989) can only be searched by case number. To identify the case of interest, consult VPRS 5390 Register of Orders to Review to find the number allocated to a specific Order.Cases in consignment P0000 (cases dated 1887 to 1957) are currently undescribed, further assistance may be required to locate the case file of interest.
Recordkeeping system
Orders to Review are initially arranged using a single number system, then from 1984 using an annual single number system. From 1898 each file number was allocated informally in VPRS 5390 Register of Orders to Review, before being entered into the register proper, which is arranged alphabetically. The register was initially introduced in 1898 as an index of the existing files and contains all cases from 1888 onwards, arranged alphabetically.From 1990 Orders to Review were incorporated into the Civil Case List and can be found in VPRS 267 Civil Case Files.
