Supreme Court of Judicature: Crown Office: Crown Office List

J 160

1975-1988

In 1980 the Crown Office at the Royal Courts of Justice began a dossier system of registered files comprising material which, as separate types of document, had previously been preserved in separate PRO classes in their entirety eg. Divisional Court Orders (J 95), Crown Office Affidavits (KB 1), Motions Entered in Appeal from Inferior Courts to the Divisional Court (KB 3). Some records continued to be filed by type although it is thought that these were either a hangover from the old system, or were submitted in that format in error.

The new registered files were referred to as the"Crown Office List". They are colour-coded by year and bear file numbers corresponding to the reference number of the case.

The Crown Office List contains a number of different types of cases which include: judicial review; statutory appeals and applications; appeals by way of case stated (usually a magistrates' court requesting advice on a decision); appeals from inferior courts and tribunals (excluding Pensions Appeal Tribunal); appeals and applications relating to planning matters; applications for a writ of habeas corpus; committal for contempt or an order preventing a vexatious litigant from instituting or continuing proceedings without the leave of a judge.

Applications of writs of habeas corpus are in J 167

Public Record(s)

English

607 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

From 2002 The Court Service

Topics

Litigation

Pay and pensions

Series is accruing

All the files created in 1980 have been preserved (although the class begins with file 212, and there are gaps within the files, it is thought that these files never existed or numbers were allocated to cases which were later withdrawn or did not come to Court). In 1981 the LEXIS computer programme was used to identify and preserve reported cases which appear in the All England Law Reports. This selection was supplemented with specimens of the different types of cases listed above.

The Crown Office of the Queen's Bench Division, together with the Associates' Office of the three former common law divisions of the High Court, became part of the Central Office of the Supreme Court of Judicature under the Supreme Court of Judicature (Officers) Act 1879.