Retention of court records
 


Project No. 72

In 1981 and 1982 the Parliament passed the Local Courts Amendment Act 1981 (WA), Justices Act Amendment Act 1982 (WA) and District Court of Western Australia Amendment Act 1982 (WA). These implemented most of the Commission’s primary recommendations, however differed in the following ways:

  • The Local Court Act 1904 (WA), does not make provision for extending the time for retaining records, whereas the Justices Act 1902 (WA) does.
  • There was no express provision stating that a Foreign Exchange Re-issue Book should be retained indefinitely, although the provisions relating to the retention of court documents excluded them.
  • There were no express provisions relating to archival legislation.

No reference was made to the reason for these omissions in the Western Australian Parliamentary Debates. However, the differences are relatively minor and in some cases reflect current standard practice.