Magistrates' Court of Victoria

The Magistrates' Court of Victoria is the lowest court in the Victorian court system, with the County Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of Victoria respectively judicially higher. The Magistrates' Court is a court of summary jurisdiction.

A typical courtroom layout consists of a witness box, a public gallery, the bar table (at which the parties sit), a raised bench for seating the sitting magistrate and a clerk and sometimes a dock for housing defendants in custody. Many Victorian magistrates' courts have video link facilities for witnesses to appear via remote video conference rather than in person and is used for when witnesses cannot travel or the prisoner is deemed too high-risk to travel to court in person.

The Magistrates' Court of Victoria hears many different types of cases, such as:

Magistrates are appointed by the Attorney General after receiving expressions of interest from Australian lawyers and are appointed as members of the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT), which is a separate and independent statutory entity which determines claims for compensation made by victims of crime and their families.

Although the current court was established by the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (Victoria), Victoria has had magistrates since 1836, when the people of Melbourne elected an arbitrator of the city to resolve minor disputes. Captain William Lonsdale, a police magistrate, was appointed in 1836 and the first case was heard at a location near the present site of Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station).

In 1838, a third court, the Court of Petty Sessions was created. By 1890, all three types of courts were held at 235 locations throughout Victoria.

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