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 unable 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[1] from Australian lawyers[2] 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.

The then Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, presented Blashki with an illuminated address signed by 30 of the court's solicitors when he retired, aged 70.

[4] Police magistrates were able to sit in on Petty Court sessions, but generally two or three Justice of the Peace were required for cases to be heard.