Court Records as Archival Records

Abstract

Perhaps more than any other group of archival holdings, court records can place archivists between the proverbial "rock and a hard place."On the one hand, there is a growing scholarly demand for court records as research sources; on the other, archivists are facing administrative pressures which affect their ability to meet that demand.Combined, these two factors carry with them an urgency that discourages an archivist from standing back from the daily work to consider the nature of court records as archival records.Yet surely this kind of enquiry is essential if archives are going to develop archival techniques appropriate to such records.'Understanding court records as historical records is not enough; archivists must also be concerned with the characteristics of these records as an archival r e ~o r d .~ Specifically, they must recognize those characteristics of court records which will affect the archival administration and use of the record.Havingdone this, they will be better equipped to develop the necessary administrative techniques and research tools appropriate for court records.What follows is an examination of three of the most obvious characteristics of court records: first, their apparent complexity of language and form; secondly, their potential sensitivity; and thirdly, their physical volume.Court records are not simply one particular type of legal record.They are not simply the public legal record as opposed to the private legal record: court records also represent the official legal records of a judicial system.This fundamental difference sets court records apart from legal records which have no official status.Essentially, the characteristics of the court record are determined by its status as an official legal record.First, the apparent complexity of the record arises from the use of unfamiliar legal language and from the complexity of the judicial system itself.Unlike private legal records, court records are created to suit the official requirements of the judicial system: this determines their language, form, and organization.As well, the potential sensitivity of court files, or documents with a 1 1 wish to thank Gordon Dodds of the Provincial Archives of Manitoba for his initial suggestion concerning the direction of this article.He, of course, bears no responsibility for the final product. 2 For articles on court records as historical records, see Rayman L. Solomon, "Legal History and the Role of Court Records," American Archivist 42, no. 2 (April 1979).

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