Project 72 - Retention of court records

Project No. 72

Commenced: 1978
Completed: 1981

The Commission was asked to consider this matter because the State Intermediate Records Repository, where the records of these courts are retained, was nearing full capacity.

Terms of Reference

In 1978 the Commission was asked to consider and report on the law relating to the retention of records of Courts of Petty Sessions and Local Courts.

Outcomes

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.

Last updated: 31-Jan-2017

[ back to top ]