Don Phelipe, by the grace of God, king of Castile, of Leon, of
Aragon, of the two Sicilias, of Ihm, of Portugal, of Navarra,
of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorcas, of
Sevilla, of Cerdeña, of Cordoba, of Corcega, of Murcia, of Jaen, of
the Algarves, of Algeçira, of Gibraltar, of the islands of Canaria,
of the eastern and western Yndias islands, and the Tierra Firme of
the great ocean; archduke of Austria; duke of Bergoña, of Brabante,
and Milan; count of Absburg, of Flandes, of Tirol, and of Barcelona;
lord of Vizcaya and of Molina; etc. Whereas, in the interests of good
government and the administration of our justice, we have accorded the
establishment in the city of Manila of the island of Luçon of one of
our royal audiencias and chancillerias, [43] in which there shall be
a president, three auditors, a fiscal, and the necessary officials;
and whereas we have granted that this Audiencia shall have the same
authority and preeminence as each one of our royal audiencias which sit
in the town of Valladolid and the city of Granada of these our realms,
and the other audiencias in our Yndias: now therefore we order to be
made and sent to the said island our royal seal, with which are to be
sealed our decisions which are made and issued by the said president
and auditors in the said Audiencia. Moreover, as to the course of
procedure which they are to follow in the performance of their duties,
we have ordered certain rules to be drawn up, as follows:
_House of Audiencia_
1. First, we ordain and command that in the said city of Manila there
shall be a house of Audiencia, where may sit and reside our said
president and auditors, and where our royal seal and register may be
kept, and in which shall be the prison and its warden, and the smelter
for precious metals. If there should, however, be no accommodation for
living in the said house, the auditors shall lodge in other houses,
which they shall occupy with the consent of their owners, paying
them rent; and the Audiencia shall be held in the house where the
president dwells, and therein shall be the prison and its warden.
2. It is our will and desire that the said Audiencia shall have
as its district the said island of Luçon and the other Filipinas
islands of the archipelago of China, and the mainland of the same,
whether discovered or yet to be discovered.
_Jurisdiction of the President and Auditors in Civil and Criminal
Cases_
3. We ordain and command that our aforesaid auditors shall have
jurisdiction of all the civil and criminal cases which come to our
said Audiencia on appeal from the governors, alcaldes-mayor, and
other magistrates of the provinces and islands and district subject
to our aforesaid Audiencia, and shall try them by examination and
review, but shall not have jurisdiction of any case in the first
instance--except it be in cases which belong to a superior court [44]
or criminal cases which arise in the city, town, or towns where they
may sit, or within five leagues thereof; and in the civil cases arising
in the town or village where they may sit, the alcaldes-in-ordinary
shall have jurisdiction.
4. _Item_: We ordain that our said judges try such civil and criminal
cases in the same manner in which they would be tried by the judges
and alcaldes of our audiencias of Valladolid and Granada, and that
they may and shall render decisions according to the precedents of
the alcaldes of our audiencias of Valladolid and Granada.
5. _Item_: We command that the governors, alcaldes-mayor, and other
magistrates of the said district shall authorize appeals to be made
from them to our aforesaid Audiencia in the cases in which rightly
and in conformity with these rules it may have jurisdiction, except
those which must go to the councils for settlement in conformity
with the decree made by us, and excepting further the cases involving
less than a certain sum in which by special decrees appeals from the
alcaldes-in-ordinary must go before the governors--which cases we
wish to remain as they are during our pleasure.
6. _Item_: In the civil cases in which judgments are pronounced after
examination and review by our said president and auditors, they are to
be executed without any further appeal or petition, or other recourse,
except when the case involves so large an amount that there may be
ground for a further appeal to our royal person, in conformity with
the provision and decree of our laws and ordinances. In such cases we
desire that the privilege of appeal be given, under the condition that
the party who makes a second appeal must and do present himself before
us within a year after the original judgment has been communicated
to his attorney. Yet we desire and command that the judgment of
revision be executed notwithstanding such second appeal, the party
in whose favor the judgment was rendered giving first sufficient and
satisfactory bond that, if it shall be reversed, he will restore
everything which has been adjudged and given to him thereby, in
conformity with the judgment which has been pronounced by the persons
appointed by us. We also ordain that the cases which shall come up
on such second appeal must be presented as original cases before our
council of the Yndias, being left just as they were; but an official
report of the entire case is to be left in the possession of a clerk
of the Audiencia before which it has been tried, and the parties must
petition for such appeals before the Audiencia itself. Yet if the
judgment of revision which is pronounced in our said audiencias be
with regard to possession, we declare and order that no opportunity
is to be given for such second appeal unless the judgment of revision
is carried out, although it be contrary to that of the original trial.
7. _Item_: In the hearing and judging of said cases, either civil
or criminal, the decision shall be whatever meets the approval of
the majority; and should they be equally divided, two or three of
the judges shall choose, impartially and in whatever manner may
seem best to them, an advocate for the determination of the case
upon which they have disagreed. The decision of the majority must be
executed, even if this majority consist of but two. If there be but
two judges in the Audiencia, they are empowered to try and determine
all the said cases alone; if they can agree, their decision is valid,
and in case of disagreement, they shall choose judges in the manner
above described. If at any time there should be but one judge in
the Audiencia, he is empowered alone to conduct the proceedings in
all the said cases up to the point of rendering final decision. He
may make investigations and issue orders for arrest, and when the
affair is submitted for final decision, he may choose an assistant
judge satisfactory to him. He is empowered to pursue this same course
in cases of damage which cannot be repaired by definite sentence;
and in a civil case of two hundred pesos or less, he is empowered to
conduct alone an original trial or an appeal, as he may also do in
criminal suits for slander.
8. _Item_: We ordain and command with regard to civil cases appealed
from the alcaldes-in-ordinary of the city where the Audiencia may be,
or from the other magistrates within five leagues thereof, that they
may be appealed before the Audiencia; and if the judgment given by the
Audiencia in said cases be of two hundred pesos of the mines [_pesos
de minas_] or less, it shall be executed as if it were granted after
review, and there shall be no appeal therefrom, whether the said
judgment be in confirmation or in revocation.
9. [Technical directions for procedure in a case on appeal when the
appellant desires, after appeal, to add to the evidence taken at the
trial of first instance. Affidavits are presented on both sides before
the judge of first instance, an interlocutory decision is pronounced,
time is allowed for filing objections, and the record of the second
series of proceedings is added to that of the first.] [45]
10. _Item_: Whoever shall bring before our Audiencia a case on appeal
may appear before the clerk whom he chooses. The clerk before whom
he appears shall be required to notify our president and auditors
of such appearance, that they may assign the case so as to produce
equality among the clerks; and the same shall be maintained among
the suits begun in the first instance in our said Audiencia.
11. _Item_: We command that the judgments pronounced by our said
president and auditors for the region beyond the five-league limit,
and writs of execution and other writs, shall be given in our name and
with our title, royal seal, and record. Writs with seal and record
shall receive the fees which by our royal tariffs of fees for our
Audiencia have been commanded for them. The judgments pronounced
for the region within the five-league limit shall follow the form
of orders without seal or record, issued by our auditors, etc. And
these writs shall be obeyed and executed in the same manner as writs
and judgments sealed with our name and royal seal.
12. _Item_: Our president shall keep a record of votes, which he shall
swear to keep secret, and in which he shall enter, in brief form,
the opinions of himself and the auditors in all cases involving a
hundred thousand maravedis and upwards.
13. _Item_: We will that our auditors repeal no sentence of banishment,
nor allow writs of delay for debts; yet we permit them to issue
writs of delay for six months to particular persons, and not in
general--provided first that such person for legitimate causes which
have intervened is unable to pay; and that he offers approved security,
not clerical or noble, [46] that at the end of six months he will
pay the debt. This term may be allowed for the same debt only once.
14. _Item_: We ordain that the appeals taken from decisions for
plaintiff or defendant in pecuniary suits, and in suits involving
only private interests, when said decisions are pronounced by those
who report to the governors and corregidors of the district of our
said Audiencia, shall go before it; but as for all other matters
heard by such judges, and as for the results of secret investigation,
they shall go before our council of the Yndias.
15. _Item_: Our Audiencia shall appoint no judge in cases of residencia
[_juez de residencia_], or governors for the provinces subject to
their jurisdiction, or judges for special criminal investigations
[_pesquisidores_]. If any individual bring complaint or charges
against the governor, and the Audiencia shall see that the matter is
of such nature that it is of importance to know the truth concerning
it, in such case they shall send one person to obtain the necessary
information. The complainant or accuser must give bonds that he will
pay the costs and the penalty which will be assessed against him in
case the accusation proves false. In other cases special judges of
investigation shall not make inquisitions, except with regard to
riots and seditious associations, or other matters of so pressing
importance that the delay requisite for consulting us would produce
notable inconvenience.
16. In cases which occur outside of the five-league limit, our
president and auditors may appoint judges by commission [_jueçes de
comision_], to hear the cases and to administer justice with regard
to them. Care must be taken that they make their inquiries in cases
which warrant inquiry, and in no others. Such judges by commission
for crimes and misdemeanors shall be given authority only to carry
on a legal inquiry [_informacion_], and to arrest the delinquents and
convey them to the prison of the Audiencia. They may also collect their
fees from those who owe them. The clerks before whom the cases are
carried on shall hand the records in their entirety to the clerks of
the Audiencia, where the matter shall be completed in such manner that
the parties shall be obliged to pay only single fees. And if the clerks
who attend such commissions have no commissioners [_receptores_], they
shall be appointed by our Audiencia, and not by the clerks thereof.
17. _Item_: We command that the receiving of the testimony which must
be taken in the transactions which proceed from our Audiencia shall
be entrusted to the clerks of those cities where it shall need to be
done. If there are no such clerks, our said Audiencia in the interim
during which there are no official commissioners of examination
[_receptores_] [47] shall appoint therefor a suitable person.
18. _Item_: Our auditors in the exercise of civil and criminal
jurisdiction shall receive no fees, or fines, or amercements, or
anything under color of charges for sitting as assessors to the
judges. The fines which they lay in cases where the law assigns any
fine to the judge shall be for our exchequer and treasury, and for
no other person. If the auditors take any of the aforesaid payments,
they shall restore them fourfold.
19. _Item_: We command that when any governors, alcaldes-mayor, or
other magistrates of the district of our said Audiencia, shall fail
to execute the writs and decrees which in our name the Audiencia shall
send them, without showing that they have just cause to desist from the
execution thereof, then in such case the Audiencia may send officials
whose fees shall be at the cost of those guilty of disobedience, which
officials shall cause the process of the Audiencia to be executed,
notwithstanding the provision that the Audiencia shall not send out
special judges of investigation [_pesquisidores_].
20. _Item_: Our Audiencia shall maintain those who have letters-patent
of nobility or privileges of gentility in the said letters-patent
and privileges. In other cases where claims of gentle birth are put
forward, they shall not try them, but remit them to the audiencias
of these kingdoms which have jurisdiction in such matters.
21. _Item_: We command that our president and auditors shall have no
authority to grant permission to go to the provinces of Peru.
22. _Item_: We ordain and command that all criminal cases which shall
come for judgment, from all parts of their jurisdiction, before our
said Audiencia, of whatsoever nature or importance they may be, shall
be tried, decided, and determined as on examination and review before
our said Audiencia. The sentence accordingly given shall be executed
and carried into effect duly, without process of appeal, petition,
or any other legal remedy or recourse.
23. _Item_: We ordain that no one shall appear at the prison of our
Audiencia as an attorney, even though he have special power of attorney
therefor, unless he have information that his client is confined in
the prison, and shall swear that the judge who shall be trying the
case is distrusted by him with just cause. In such case our auditors
shall direct the judge to send them a signed transcript of the record,
in order that, after the transcript has been submitted, if it shall
appear that they should try the case, they may direct the transfer
of the record to the Audiencia. In such case they shall grant the
party a writ forbidding the judge to proceed further with the case;
and the prisoner shall appear at his own expense, providing good
security. Before the auditors have examined the record, they shall
grant no writ of injunction, temporary or perpetual. If, however,
the prisoner shall have appeared in person, and shall find that he
has a right to a trial in the Audiencia, and to a writ of injunction
against the judge who claims the right to try the case of to summon
the parties to appear to the charges, let them give the writ. Meanwhile
the prisoner shall be confined in the prison, and shall not be admitted
to bail until by means of the record the nature of the charge is made
evident in conformity with the laws of these realms which govern in
such cases.
24. _Item_: We ordain and command that our president and auditors
and the ordinary magistrates of our said Yndias, where there shall
be a mint, shall have jurisdiction over all crimes of falsification
of money committed by the moneyers although they be committed within
the mint. Accordingly, they may call the case before them, unless
the alcaldes of the said mint have anticipated them and begun to try
it. Likewise, our said president and auditors, with respect to the
mints in their jurisdiction, may appoint a person to report to the
alcaldes and officials of the said mints.
25. _Item_: We command that on Saturday of every week two auditors
in rotation, as the president shall assign them, shall inspect the
prisons of the Audiencia and of the town where the Audiencia may
be. There shall be present at the inspection the alcaldes, alguazils,
and clerks of the prisons, and our fiscal attorney. At the inspection
of the prison of the town or city the alcaldes-in-ordinary thereof
shall be seated near the auditors.
26. _Item_: We command that the president and auditors of our
Audiencia shall be present on every day that is not a holiday, in the
court-rooms, to hear the statement of cases [_relaciones_]--three
hours on the days when cases are not heard [_no de audiencia_] and
four hours on days when hearings are given [_de audiencia_], according
to the rules of our audiencias of Valladolid and Granada. He who is
absent without sending a sufficient excuse shall be fined half his
pay for that day, by the person whom the president shall appoint,
whose report in the matter shall receive faith and credit, so that no
auditor shall hold or try the said cases in his own house without being
joined with all the others, as has been said with regard to the said
Audiencia, to hear and determine pleas and matters brought before it.
27. _Item_: No auditor shall sit when a suit is begun that will
affect him, his sons, fathers, sons-in-law, or brothers, or when
he shall be challenged. As regards the penalty for challenging our
president and auditors, the ordinances of Madrid shall be followed,
the fine contained therein being doubled.
28. _Item_: Our president and auditors shall have no authority to
bring before our Audiencia in the first instance any suit of their
own, of their wives, or of their children. The said suits shall be
tried by the alcaldes-in-ordinary, and shall come on appeal before
our council of the Yndias if the case involves a thousand pesos or
upwards. If the other party to the suit desires to appeal to our
Audiencia and not to the council, he may do so; but the auditor,
his wife, and his children shall have no such right of choice.
29. Further: The said auditors shall not appear for others in the
said Audiencia or in any other, nor shall they undertake to arbitrate
cases that may come before them, except that cases already begun may
be submitted to all the auditors of the Audiencia for arbitration,
and except where our permission may be given--under penalty of being
suspended from the Audiencia for thirty days and losing salary for
two months.
30. Our said president and auditors shall have no share with an
advocate or commissioner [_receptor_] in his fees or salary. Nor shall
they have the right to receive anything but food from any corporation
or individual, or other person, who shall have been interested in a
suit within a year previous, or who shall expect to be so interested,
and the same as to their wives and children--under the penalty for
forswearing, besides loss of office, being rendered incapable of
holding any other office, and being required to pay double for what
they have taken. They shall take great care not to converse much or
be very familiar with advocates or attorneys who are pleading cases.
31. _Item_: We command that our president and auditors shall not
be engaged in military expeditions, or expeditions of discovery,
without my express command. They shall have no income-bearing estates
[_granjerias_] either in cattle or in arable land, or in mines. They
shall carry on no mercantile business by themselves, or in partnership,
or through intermediaries; nor shall they avail themselves of the
services of Indians in procuring water or wood or grass, or for other
purposes on pain of being deprived of their offices.
32. _Item_: There shall be appointed to no position as corregidor
or other officer of justice the son, brother, father-in-law,
son-in-law, or brother-in-law of any president, auditor, or fiscal
of our audiencias; and if any one shall be so appointed he shall not
perform the duties of the office, under a penalty of a thousand pesos
of gold for our treasury.
33. _Item_: We command that when any person desires to bring any suit
or action against any of our auditors he may do so before our said
Audiencia, or before the alcaldes-in-ordinary, and he may appeal from
the said alcaldes to the said Audiencia.
34. _Item_: We ordain that when any auditor is offered as a witness
the Audiencia shall appoint a magistrate, in order that the rights
of the parties may not be lost for want of evidence; and they shall
give direction that he is to give his testimony, unless it shall
appear that he is offered as a witness maliciously to prevent him
from acting as judge in the case.
35. _Item_: We command that an auditor who goes on a tour of inspection
shall receive no more fees than are ordained and commanded to be given
him, and shall accept nothing from Indians or Spaniards except food,
on penalty of repaying it fourfold.
36. _Item_: We command that our president of the said Audiencia shall
try criminal charges against the auditors thereof jointly with the
alcaldes-in-ordinary, notwithstanding the ordinance to the contrary.
37. Further, in case of inability of the president of the said
Audiencia of such nature that he cannot carry on the functions of
government, the Audiencia itself shall assume the government and
do all that he had authority to do--the senior auditor filling the
office of president, and taking charge of the other matters committed
to the president until we make provision in some other manner.
38. _Item_: We command that our said president shall not have authority
to give permission to the auditors of the said Audiencia to come to
these realms without our express command.
_Affairs of government_
39. _Item_: We command that in our said Audiencia there shall be a
record for affairs of government, in which our auditors shall register
the votes that they give on affairs of government.
40. _Item_: We command that our president of our Audiencia shall send
once a year to our Council of the Yndias an extended and detailed
report, attested by his signature, of the salaries, payments, fees,
and allowances paid in this territory from our royal treasury to all
persons whatsoever, and shall state how much was paid to each, and for
what reason. And he shall give a list of the corregidorships, stating
in it to whom the appointment is given by our warrant [_cedula_], and
to whom by order of our president and Audiencia, and for what reason;
and he shall report on the qualifications and merits of each person,
the amount of fees that each one receives, the amount of salaries
in each corregidor's district, and the persons appointed in each
district, and their qualifications. He shall also state the nature
of their service, and how long it is since they were appointed to
the said offices. The same reports shall be made by our fiscal and
our officials of the royal treasury.
41. _Item_: We desire that one of our auditors, each in his turn, shall
make a visit of inspection once a year to the villages of the district
of the said Audiencia, and to the inns and, apothecaries' shops, seeing
to it that the inns shall have fixed lists of rates. The medicines
and other things in the apothecaries' shops which he discovers to be
spoiled he shall pour out and not permit to be sold. On the same visit
to the provinces of his district he shall inform himself as to the
nature of the soil, the amount of the population, and the best means of
supporting the churches and monasteries required. He shall observe what
public buildings arc needed for the good of the towns and the better
traveling of the roads. He shall find out whether the natives perform
the sacrifices and commit the idolatries to which they are accustomed,
how the corregidors perform their duties, and whether the slaves that
go to the mines are instructed in doctrine as they ought to be. He
shall ascertain whether the Indians support themselves, or whether
they are made slaves, contrary to that which is ordained. And he
shall inform himself in a compendious manner with regard to everything
else requiring his attention. The said auditor shall have warrant to
attend to matters in which delay would be dangerous, or which are of
such a nature that they do not require greater deliberation. He shall
remit to the Audiencia the other cases to which he is not obliged
to attend. For the acts aforesaid shall be given to the auditor the
warrant of the decree dealing with inspections.
42. _Item_: We command that our said president shall grant no fee,
office, corregidorship, or other source of profit by which means of
support may be gained, to any man who has Indians in encomiendas.
43. _Item_: Our said president and auditors shall suffer no merchants
to set upon their wares prices higher than those by us ordained
and commanded.
44. Further: Whensoever the citizens and inhabitants of the district
of our Audiencia shall be summoned by the said Audiencia they shall
obey the summons in peace and war, as by our president and auditors
shall be commanded; and they shall do and fulfil all that on our
behalf they say and command, and they shall give them all aid and
comfort which they desire--under penalty of infamy, and the other
penalties incurred by vassals disobedient to their king and lord.
45. _Item_: Any person who desires to petition us for any favor for
services not performed in our Yndias shall first make his declaration
before the Audiencia in whose district he may be, and the Audiencia
shall make an official report of the services performed, and of his
character. This report, folded and sealed, with their opinion at the
foot thereof, shall be sent in duplicate to our council, without being
shown to the person interested. And if the person interested desires
to make a report for himself, they shall receive and transmit it.
46. _Item_: We command that in each and every case when any towns or
individuals of their district appear before our Audiencia to petition
for license to make repartimientos, the Audiencia shall grant the
license which seems to them due, but only so far as concerns suits
pending before the said Audiencia, and for public works for which
no other maintenance is provided, and for no other purpose. The said
license in the aforesaid cases shall be granted, if such towns have
no endowments [_propios_].
47. _Item_: When any one shall petition for an assignment of any town
lots or agricultural lands in the city or town where our Audiencia
shall reside, then after conference in the cabildo, notice of the
judgment of the cabildo shall be given to our president, by means
of two regidors deputed therefor. And when they have made their
examination, that upon which the president together with the two
deputies shall determine, shall be carried out, being attested by all
in the presence of the clerk of the cabildo, that he may record it in
the council-book. Petitions for assignments of lands and waters for
machinery shall be presented before the president, who shall transmit
them to the said cabildo that they may confer thereon. They shall
return them by a regidor, who shall report their conclusions, so that
after examination the president may determine that which is fitting.
48. _Item_: Our said president and auditors shall cause to be made
a record-book in which shall be entered the names of citizens of
this territory, the service performed by each one, and the reward
received by him, either in money, by way of fees, or in other ways,
or by appointment, and to what offices. The said record shall be
kept with great care, together with the record of votes, so that when
any person makes a statement of services before them they may report
their opinions in his case.
49. _Item_: We command that our Audiencia, at the end of the two
months during which the two regidors appointed as inspectors of
weights and measures have served, shall receive from them an account
of their service.
50. _Item_: We command that our Audiencia shall have authority to
order the execution of the ordinances made for the provinces under
their jurisdiction, after being filed by them, and during the time
while they are being sent to us for confirmation.
51. _Item_: That an auditor every year by turns, beginning with the
most recently appointed, shall audit the accounts rendered by the
cabildo of the city where our Audiencia shall reside.
52. Further: When the president and auditors shall be about to allot
the lands, waters, watering-places for cattle, and pastures of any
town, city, or village, among the persons who are to be settled
therein, they shall do so with the counsel of the cabildos thereof,
taking into consideration that in such allotments the regidors shall
be preferred, provided they have no other allotments of arable lands
or dwelling-lots. Let such allotments be made without prejudice to the
Indians, retaining for them their arable lands, gardens, and pastures,
so that all shall be cared for.
53. _Item_: We command that our president and auditors shall appoint
no administrative or notarial official, or fill any other permanent
office, even if it be vacant by resignation; nor shall they make such
appointments in the interim before we appoint.
_Ecclesiastical cases_
54. _Item_: We ordain and command that our auditors of our Audiencia,
in cases of unlawful procedure on the part of ecclesiastical judges
[48] shall follow the procedure by and according to which in these
our realms the audiencias of Valladolid and Granada proceed, without
extending it further than is practised in our said audiencias.
55. _Item_: We command that our said Audiencia, governors, and other
magistrates of their district shall ascertain and know if in those
regions there are any persons who have letters of authorization
or apostolic bulls to take possession of the property left by
the archbishops who may die in those regions, or of the vacant
bishoprics. When it is known who has them, let him cause them to be
brought accordingly. First of all, let them appeal from such persons
before his Holiness, nor give nor allow opportunity for them to
be used in any manner, nor for possession to be taken of the said
property or vacant bishoprics. They shall not do, or permit to be
done, any other acts in prejudice of the rights and usages with regard
to bishoprics to which we are entitled with respect to this matter,
or in prejudice of the immemorial custom that possession shall not
be taken. And such authorizations and bulls thus obtained you will
send in their entirety, in the first ships, to be presented before
the members of our Council of the Yndias, together with the appeals
which shall have been taken with regard to the matter.
56. _Item_: When there shall be doubt with regard to the signification
of anything in the contents of an ecclesiastical appointment, or as
to the requisite collation at the hands of the bishops of benefices
for the clergy whom we present, let the president of the Audiencia
decide it.
57. And when in our said Audiencia the aid of the secular arm is asked
for by the prelates and ecclesiastical judges, let them plead by way
of petition and not of demand.
58. _Item_: Our Audiencia and the other magistrates of our said
district shall see to it that in the towns which are not populated by
Spaniards no bulls shall be published. They shall not permit Indians to
be compelled to hear the preaching of them, or to receive them. Those
which are published from the pulpit shall be published in the Spanish
language. We also give the same command to the commissaries of the
holy crusade. [49]
_Royal treasury and its officials_
59. _Item_: We also ordain that the suits of our royal treasury
be examined and decided before any others that shall be before the
Audiencia; and that our fiscal shall take care to prosecute them,
and to report to us what is done therein.
60. _Item_: Our president with two auditors at the beginning of
each year shall audit the reports of the officials in charge of our
royal treasury for the previous year; and the said officials shall
finish them within the months of January and February. When they
are completed they shall send a transcript thereof to our Council of
the Yndias. We also command that at the end of the said two months,
if the said accounts are not completed, the officials of our royal
treasury shall receive no salary until they finish them; and each
of the auditors who shall thus be ready to receive the said accounts
shall have as a fee twenty-five thousand maravedis.
61. _Item_: The judicial settlement [_remate_] made with regard to
auctions by our royal treasury must not be made without the consent of
the majority of those appointed therefor, even when the auditor who
shall be present desires it. Further, at such sales and settlements
shall be present our fiscal with said officials, who shall sell
nothing in his absence.
62. _Item_: We command that at the time when the auditing of the
accounts of our royal exchequer by our president and auditors shall
begin, in conformity with the decree given thereon, they shall go
first of all to our royal treasury and weigh and count the gold and
silver and the other things therein. They shall make a record thereof,
and immediately begin the accounts; and when they are completed
the balance shall be collected within the time required by the said
decree, and shall be placed in the chest of the three keys, orders
being given that the balance of the preceding year shall not be made
up by the collections received during the auditing of the accounts.
63. _Item_: When the officials of our royal exchequer shall have
need of absenting themselves from the city where they reside, they
shall not have authority to do so without license from our president,
who shall give it for a short time, to a destination within those
regions, and no more. There shall be designated, in the place of the
official on leave, a person suitable therefor in the judgment of the
said president. And if the said official absents himself in any other
manner he shall lose his position.
64. Further: At the time of the making up of the accounts of the
tithes, for distribution according to the ecclesiastical appointments,
there shall be present thereat an auditor.
65. _Item_: We command that no salary be paid from our royal exchequer,
or from fines, to the judges in cases of residencia, or to criminal
judges [_pesquisidores_] commissioned by our Audiencia.
66. _Item_: We desire that there shall be a record of all the suits
and transactions of our royal exchequer; and that every Thursday in
each week (and if that shall be a holiday, on the day before), after
dinner, the senior auditor with our fiscal and the officials of our
exchequer, and one of the clerks thereof, shall discuss article by
article the said suits and transactions by means of the said record,
considering the state in which they are and how the decisions reached
at previous meetings have been carried out.
67. _Item_: We command that our president and auditors shall have no
authority to direct the payment of any money from our royal exchequer,
or to expend anything from it, without more express license and
command--except when cases occur in which the delay required to submit
them to us for consultation would cause irreparable injury. In such
case, when it shall seem advisable to our president and auditors and
the officials of our royal exchequer they shall expend therefrom
that which they all jointly shall regard as requisite, and shall
make expenditures in no other manner. The warrant which they shall
give for this shall be signed by them all, on penalty that what
is expended contrary to the tenor hereof shall be paid from their
own property. They shall immediately report the amount thereof, the
purpose and manner of the expenditure, and the necessity for which
it shall have been made.
_Fines paid into the royal treasury_
68. _Item_: We command that our treasurer shall receive all fines, in
whatever manner they shall be applied by our auditors, whether to our
treasury, or to court rooms, or to other expenses. Our alguazil-mayor
shall take charge of the enforcement of them. The amounts so received
by the said treasurer shall be immediately brought before the officials
of our royal exchequer, who shall deposit them in the chest of the
three keys, and enter in a record everything thus collected from the
said sentences. They shall keep separate the fines for the treasury
and those for court rooms; and our said president and auditors shall
supervise the care thereof taken by the treasurer, who shall at the
end of each year, on account of the said sentences [_condenaciones_]
and the receipt thereof, send to our Council of the Yndias a condensed
report thereof, attested by his signature and that of the officials,
and a certificate from the clerks of the said Audiencia as to the
sentences given.
69. _Item_: There shall be in the possession of our president a
record in which every clerk shall enter in his presence, every week,
the sentences passed in presence of the said clerk, on pain of being
obliged to pay them from his own property. When the president and
auditors shall have need of anything, they shall give a warrant for it
on our treasurer on account of those moneys collected under judicial
sentences passed for similar objects.
_Probate matters_
70. Further: We command that our Audiencia shall audit the accounts of
the administrators of the estates of deceased persons, and shall see
if they have observed the ordinances and decrees given with regard
thereto. These accounts shall be audited in the month of January,
on pain of loss of salary for two months, to be taken from that due
the first third of the year, unless they show that they have audited
the said accounts in the said month. We command further that, for
the good administration of the estates of deceased persons, our said
Audiencia shall appoint each year an auditor who shall be judge of
such administration, and may try the matter as if the whole Audiencia
were to try it.
_Indians, and matters relating to them_
71. _Item_: Our said president and auditors shall always take great
care to be informed of the crimes and abuses which shall be committed,
or have been committed, against the Indians who shall be under
our royal crown, or against those granted in encomiendas to other
persons by the governors or private persons. The said president and
auditors shall make inquiry as to the manner in which the ordinances
and instructions given in regard to this matter have been and are
observed, punishing the guilty with all rigor, and providing means to
bring it about that the said Indians shall be better treated and shall
be instructed in our holy Catholic faith, regarding them as our free
vassals. This must be their chief care; it is that for which we have
chiefly to hold them accountable, and that in which they are chiefly
called on to serve us.
72. We command that our said president and auditors shall take great
care to give no opportunity that, in the cases in which Indians shall
be plaintiffs or defendants, orders shall be granted on _ex parte_
motions [_procesos ordinarios_] or that the suits shall be long
continued without prompt decision. Our said auditors shall preserve
the usages and customs of the Indians when they are not plainly unjust,
and shall take care that the same are preserved by the inferior judges.
73. Let our said Audiencia and the bishop see to it that in every
village there shall be a person appointed to give instruction in
doctrine to the Indians and blacks who serve without going into the
field, every day one hour; and to those who go into the field, on
Sundays and feast-days. And let the Audiencia and the bishop compel
their lord to bid them go and learn the doctrine.
74. _Item_: Let no judge of first instance in the district o our said
Audiencia meddle with depriving the caciques [50] of their caciquedoms
for accusations brought before the said judge, on pain of removal
from office and a fine of fifty thousand milreis to our treasury. Let
the decision of the case in dispute be reserved for our Audiencia,
for the auditor who shall next inspect the said villages.
75. _Item_: When a suit is brought against Indians, the plaintiff
may make his complaint before our Audiencia, in whose district they
are; and an order shall there be given the parties that within three
months, which may be extended to not more than six, each one shall
present his testimony. After the testimony of every twelve witnesses
is taken, the report shall be sent, folded and sealed, without other
publication or formal conclusion of the preliminary proceedings, to
our council, that it may decree justice. And our auditors, before
they send the record, shall cause the parties to be cited to come
and appear before the said council in pursuance of the said action,
within the term assigned them, with warning that if they do not appear,
the case will be decided in their absence.
76. _Item_: We command that when anyone by his own authority shall
deprive another of the possession of the Indians whom he shall have,
our Audiencia, prohibiting the said violence and doing justice,
shall restore matters to the state in which they were before the act
was done.
77. _Item_: Let the president and auditors not permit any cacique or
chief to come to this country from those regions without our license.
78. Further: Our auditors, on two days in the week and Saturdays,
if they have no suits of poor persons before them, shall hear cases
of Indians against Indians. We command that the auditor who shall
go on a journey of inspection through the country shall have power
to try cases with regard to the liberty of the Indians, making report
before the Audiencia. Likewise the auditor who shall inspect the prison
of the Indians shall examine the witnesses by personal examination,
and not by report.
79. _Item_: Our president and auditors shall appoint a judge to allot
the waters to the natives for the period during which need thereof
may continue, whenever it may be necessary to do so, and no one shall
be permitted to molest them therein. The said judge shall come to the
Audiencia to give an account of what he shall have done, and he must
not come at the cost of the Indians. Our said auditors shall take great
care not to send a notary to take testimony [_receptor_] for light
causes, to the Indians' villages or elsewhere, except in a matter of
importance, and one in which there is great advantage in sending them.
_Fiscal_
80. _Item_: We command that our fiscal attorney of the said Audiencia
shall have no authority to appear as an advocate in any case; and that
he shall give his whole attention to what concerns us, our exchequer
[_camara_] and treasury [_fisco_]; and he shall swear accordingly
before our president and auditors. He shall serve in person, except
when he shall absent himself for some just cause for a short time,
with the permission of our president, and with his authorization for
cases prosecuted at a distance from the seat of our said Audiencia. Our
said fiscal shall take great care to see whether the decrees given and
the ordinances made are carried out, especially those dealing with the
instruction, conversion, kind treatment, and protection of the Indians.
81. _Item_: We command that our said fiscal shall sit on the right-hand
bench, taking precedence of all the advocates; and at the inspection
of the royal prison he shall sit in the court-room behind the auditors;
and the same at the inspection of the city prison, the judges of first
instance taking precedence of him; and in all other cases he shall
take the best place after the auditors and after the alguazil-mayor
of the Audiencia.
82. _Item_: We command that our said fiscal shall take care to assist
and favor poor Indians in the suits they are carrying on, and to
see to it on their behalf that they are not oppressed, maltreated,
or wronged--acting in conformity with our laws and ordinances.
83. _Item_: We ordain and command that our said fiscal shall assume
the charge and conduct of the cases concerning the execution of our
justice, when appeal shall be taken from the corregidors or other
judges.
84. Further: We command that our said fiscal shall bring no charges
without waiting for a complainant, except when the fact is notorious,
or when judicial inquiry has been made.
85. _Item_: It shall be his duty to concern himself, and he shall
concern himself, with notorious immorality, and with the defense of
the royal authority; and to this end he shall perform all necessary
legal acts.
_Alguazil-mayor and his deputies_
86. _Item_: We command that our alguazil-mayor of our Audiencia shall
be maintained in all the honors and dignities which are observed
in the case of the alguazils-mayor of our audiencias of Valladolid
and Granada, and that he shall take the place and seat taken by our
said alguazils-mayor.
87. _Item_: We command that our said alguazil-mayor shall not farm out
his office; and that he and his deputies shall observe the laws that
deal therewith, and the oath that they take when admitted to office.
88. _Item_: We command that our said alguazil-mayor shall have
authority to remove from office his deputies and jailers whenever
he sees fit, and that he shall have authority to appoint and shall
appoint others again, first presenting them before the Audiencia.
89. _Item_: We ordain and command that when our Audiencia shall
depute any judge or commissioner of inspection [_visitador_] who shall
need to take an alguazil, he shall take the deputy designated by our
alguazil-mayor therefor, and shall employ him and no other--unless
in some special case the contrary shall be approved by our Audiencia,
for just cause.
90. _Item_: We command that our alguazil-mayor or his deputies,
whensoever they shall be directed to arrest any person, shall do so
and act accordingly without delay, concealment, or negligence--under
a penalty of forty pesos for every occasion on which they do the
contrary, in addition to the damage and concern of the parties,
and of that which has been adjudged and decreed.
91. _Item_: We command that if a malefactor be found committing a
crime they may and shall arrest him without a warrant. If it shall be
in the day-time, they shall take him immediately before the Audiencia
stating the cause of his arrest; if at night, they shall put him in
jail, and without delay on the following morning shall produce him
before the Audiencia, as aforesaid. They shall not venture to take any
property from the person whom they arrest, on pain of being required
to repay double what they have taken, for our treasury.
92. _Item_: We command that our said alguazil-mayor shall not
tolerate forbidden games of chance or notorious immoralities; and
if in the performance of his duty he shall meet with resistance,
let him immediately come and declare the same to the said Audiencia,
and on Saturday of each week let him come and give an account and
review of what he has thus done, under penalty of being required to
pay four pesos for the poor of the prison in each case.
93 _Item_: The said alguazil-mayor shall present before the Audiencia
the two alguazils whom he shall appoint for himself, that they may
be approved by us; and they shall not perform their functions until,
after being thus presented before the said Audiencia, they shall swear
in due form that they will well and faithfully perform their duties,
observing the laws, decrees, and ordinances dealing with the same;
and that they will not promise or give, and have not promised or
given, for the sake of those offices, or for the profits thereof,
or for anything else, the services of themselves or their men;
and that from the income and profits of the said offices they have
not given or promised anything. The same oath shall be required of
the alguazil-mayor who shall present them, and likewise from the
substitute alguazils--under the penalty prescribed for forswearing,
and of dismissal from office.
94. _Item_: We command that they shall not take gifts or gratifications
from the prisoners or from others for them, or for this cause lighten
imprisonments or release prisoners. And they shall not make arrests
without warrant, except in _flagrante delicto_, on pain of dismissal
from office, of, being incapacitated for future employment, and of
being required to repay fourfold what they have thus taken, to our
exchequer.
95. _Item_: Our said alguazil-mayor shall appoint no jailer without
first presenting him before our Audiencia, that it may be seen whether
he is fit and able, and that he may be approved by our president and
auditors--on pain of losing the right to appoint for a year. And the
appointment shall be made by my said president and auditors.
96. _Item_: We command that he shall have no authority to take fees
for executions without the previous payment of the party in interest,
under the penalty prescribed for forswearing, and the other penalties
contained in the laws and ordinances dealing herewith.
97. _Item_: Our said alguazil-mayor and his deputies shall be present
at the sittings of the Audiencia, under a penalty of two pesos for
every day of absence, for the poor of the prison.
98. _Item_: Our said alguazil-mayor or his deputies shall be obliged
to make their rounds by night, on pain of being condemned to pay the
damages resulting from their fault or negligence, and four pesos for
the court-room of our Audiencia, for every night when they fail to
do their duty.
99. _Item_: We command our said alguazil-mayor to be present at the
inspections of the prisons of our said Audiencia, under a penalty of
two pesos of gold for every time of failure, for the poor thereof.
100. _Item_: We command them to do and execute that which is commanded
in the ordinances made or to be made for the good administration and
government of the city or town where our Audiencia sits.
101. _Item_: They shall not take weapons from those who carry them
at nightfall or after candle-light, or from those who rise early to
go to their labors and tillage.
102. _Item_: They shall take no fees for the executions which it shall
be their duty to levy, or which they shall levy, on the property or
goods adjudged, or which shall be adjudged, to our treasury.
103. _Item_: We command them not to take the money of those who are
found gambling, except when they exact from them the legal fine,
which they have authority to put in safe-keeping when they find them
engaged in the said gambling.
104. Further: Let him take care to go by nigh and day through the
public places to prevent disturbances and quarrels, on pain of
suspension from his offices.
105. _Item_: Let him take no fees for executions more than once for
one debt, even when the party at whose instance the execution is
made allows delay or continuance to the person against whose goods
the said execution is made--on pain of being compelled to pay the
excess of the fees fourfold, to our exchequer.
_Clerks of the Audiencia_
107. We ordain and command that the clerks [_escribanos_] of
our Audiencia shall have no authority to appoint deputy clerks,
administrative or judicial, in the cities, towns, and villages of
the district of the said Audiencia, nor shall they employ therein
such deputies.
108. _Item_: The clerks of the said Audiencia shall be appointed by us
and by no other person; and in all matters relating to the examination
of witnesses they shall follow the rules of the audiencias of these
our realms.
109. [Amount of fees for clerks, seal, and register must be endorsed
on all documents. Penalty: two pesos to the court-room.]
110. [Official reporter's [_relator_] fees must be endorsed and shown
to party. Penalty: loss thereof.]
111. [Clerks to take testimony in person. Regulations as to substitutes
acting when clerks are prevented, and as to collection of fees.]
112. [Clerks' and notaries' records to be annually inspected by
an auditor.]
113. The said clerks shall enter in one order of court all the official
positions which are provided for a village [_i. e._, of Indians], and
on account thereof they shall receive no excessive fees. Their fees
shall be paid by the superintendents [_calpiscas_] of the villages.
114. _Item:_ No Indians shall be granted in encomiendas by
repartimiento to the clerks of our said Audiencia. If they are so
granted, the said clerks shall have no authority to keep them.
115-120. [Section 115 provides that appeals from the decision of the
inspector of weights and measures of the city where the Audiencia sits
are to be given preference. Sections 116-120 contain provisions for
promptitude and accuracy in the business of recording--among others,
that the pages of the record of a case shall run with serial numbers,
and that notice of the number of pages and parts of pages be given
to the parties. The penalty for violation of each of these sections
is two pesos for the court-room of the Audiencia.]
121. [The registers must be marked with a cross at the end of each
year, under a penalty of thirty pesos to the exchequer.]
122. [If there is a supply of clerks, complaints must not be made
before a clerk who is brother or cousin to the plaintiff.]
123. The said clerks shall not ask or accept fees for the
ecclesiastical cases conducted before the said Audiencia at the suit
of the corregidors or judges of residencia, with regard to matters
relating to the defence of the royal authority; or for the proceedings
transacted before the said officers and the decisions rendered with
regard thereto--under penalty of a fourfold fine to our exchequer;
and we command that our fiscal attorney shall attend such hearings
with all diligence.
124. Further: They shall not write with abbreviations, putting
"A." for "Alonso" or "c" for "ciento," under a penalty of thirty
pesos for our exchequer.
125-138. [These sections direct accuracy and promptitude in
various kinds of cases, with penalties for negligence. They also
give directions for avoiding extortionate or illegal fees. Fiscal
cases are exempt, as are cases involving any royal rights. The
penalties are two pesos for the court-room, for minor negligences;
heavier fines for more important ones; damages to the party injured;
compensation to the exchequer; a fourfold fine to the exchequer for
wrongful fees; suspension or removal from office. The most important
section is the following:]
131. The clerks and relators of the said Audiencia, in cases civil
and criminal, shall receive the fees belonging to them, in conformity
with the fee-list; and that this may be attended to and fulfilled
accordingly, we command that henceforth the aforesaid and each of
them shall enter on the record and documents in the case the fees
that they are to receive from the parties, or from their attorneys or
agents, both for the examination of the record of proceedings and the
rest, stating specifically the amount that they are to receive and
the items of charge. This they shall attest with their signatures,
jointly with the party in interest, or his attorney or agent, who
is to pay the said fees, in such manner that both shall attest that
which they are thus to receive for the said record of proceedings and
pleadings. If he who pays the said fees shall not be able to sign his
name, let another sign for him. When the case or affair is finished,
the said clerk or relator, and the party, or his attorney or agent,
shall swear that they have not accepted or given more fees for that
case or affair than that which is there entered and signed; and that,
if they shall accept or give more, they will enter and sign it as has
been said. The penalty of the first offense is a requirement to repay
fourfold to our exchequer that which is taken otherwise than as herein
ordained; for the second, the same penalty and dismissal from office;
and if the party or the attorney shall give information that he has
given moneys to the said clerk, and they shall not be endorsed as
aforesaid, let him be believed on his oath as to the amount that he
shall have given.
139. [Clerks and commissioners are to undertake no official
investigations without signed warrant from the court. Penalty:
two years' suspension and a hundred pesos for the first offense,
and dismissal for the second.]
140. [More than one demand [_peticion_] in appeals is not to be
accepted from either party. Penalty: two pesos.]
141. [Abbreviations or numbers in dates are not permitted, for fear
of fraud. Penalty: damages of the parties and twenty pesos for the
exchequer and court-rooms.]
142. [Memoranda of testimony in criminal cases must be given to the
fiscal for correction. Penalty: four pesos.]
143. [Clerks in all depositions are to put questions as to age and
the like, to avoid fraud. Penalty: two pesos to the court room.]
144. They shall accept no food, fowls, or other things in satisfaction
of their fees, on pain of being required to repay fourfold what they
thus accept, to our exchequer.
145. [No fees are to be accepted from a defendant who swears on
preliminary examination that he owes nothing, in case the plaintiff
does not prove his case on judicial examination. In such case, the
plaintiff is to pay the fees.]
146. [Copies of decisions are to be promptly given to the party
requesting it. Penalty: two pesos to the court-room.]
147. [Notice of fines and penalties must be sent to the fiscal
weekly. Penalty: two pesos to the court-room.]
148. [Evidence of poor suitors is to be taken with care and
promptitude.]
149. [Notifications of hearings in cases concerning small amounts
are to be sent to the parties. Penalty: two pesos to the court-room.]
150. [Personal presence is required at examinations in criminal cases
and the execution of sentences. Penalty: suspension from office.]
151. [Lists of fees allowed by law must be posted in their offices,
as well as in the public hall of the Audiencia. Penalty: five pesos
to the poor of the prison.]
152. [No fees may be taken for keeping or looking for records. Penalty:
fourfold to the royal exchequer.]
153. [Copies of penalties and memoranda of fiscal cases must be sent
to the fiscal every week. Penalty: six pesos to the royal exchequer.]
154. [Examinations are to be dated by the time of examination, and
not by that of taking the oath. Penalty: four pesos to the exchequer.]
155. In inquisitions and examinations which they shall make they shall
put thirty lines on a page, and in every line ten parts [_i.e._],
words divided by spaces]; and they shall write a good hand and shall
place at the foot of each inquisition or examination the fees to be
received therefor, under a penalty of eight pesos to our exchequer
for a violation.
156. [Fees for single documents are not to be augmented because other
documents are incorporated within them. Penalty: fourfold repayment
to the exchequer.]
157. [Cases affecting the treasury, in which no party appears therefor,
are to be brought to the attention of the fiscal.]
158. [Fees are not to be charged to poor suitors; if the poor suitor's
opponent is condemned in costs, the fees are to be paid by the poor
suitor and added to the costs.]
159. [Fees for permitting an examination of records are not to
be charged, unless the examination is made by the party or his
representative. Fourfold penalty to the exchequer.]
160. [Copies of essential documents are to be included in the record
of a case without extra fees. Penalty: twenty pesos to the court-room
of our Audiencia.]
161. [Unsigned interrogatories are not to be accepted. Questions must
be put only by the counselor of the Audiencia.]
162. [Cases requiring to be divided by assignment among various clerks
shall not be accepted without immediate reference to the official
whose duty it is to assign cases. Penalty: loss of cases for two
months, and loss of the case in question.]
163. [Records and documents must not be committed to the care of
any but attorneys or counselors, and to them only on their giving a
receipt. Fines are imposed for delay in returning them.]
164. [No record is to be kept of a case of twenty pesos or less,
and no fee of more than half a peso from each party is to be taken
in such case. Fourfold penalty to the exchequer.]
165. [No fees are to be taken for a view of the records, in cases
appealed from ecclesiastical courts, on the ground of violence to law
[_fuerza_], if the case is referred back to those courts. Penalty:
fourfold fine to the exchequer.]
166. [Fees are to be charged only for the record of such judicial acts
as are actually before them, although the whole record is transmitted
therewith. Previous penalty.]
167. [Charges of violation of their oath are to be preferred by the
fiscal in the event of failure to attend on him with the weekly fines,
or of making excessive charges.]
168. [Clerks must be present half an hour before the court convenes;
and petitions must be handed in before the president and auditors
take their seats in court. Penalty: two pesos of gold paid to the
court-room.]
169. [They must affirm with their signatures the sentences given after
review by the president and auditors, and written in a book kept in
the president's room, before the third day next following. This is
done so that the sentences may be known, and to avoid fraud, as the
sentences are pronounced after review. Penalty: double the amount in
question to the exchequer.]
170. [They must write the decisions of the court by their own hands,
especially in affairs of importance, as secrets would not be safe
with minor officials. Penalty: six pesos to the court-room.]
171. [The clerks of the said Audiencia or of the criminal court
shall levy no fees on the cases pleaded before the said president,
auditors and alcaldes, to which the fiscal attorneys are a party,
even if the decision is for the said fiscals, with judgment of costs
against the other party; and they shall not put them on the record,
nor collect them from the condemned persons. P.: forty pesos for the
chamber of this Audiencia, and payment of twice the amount collected
to the exchequer.]
_Official reporters_
172-202. [These sections give directions with regard to the duties and
emoluments of the reporters [_relatores_], as minute and precise as
those for the clerks, with similar penalties. The following sections
may be specially noticed:]
176. [Relators are not to ask for cases, but to await the assignment
of the bailiffs [_porteros_].]
179. [Relators are not to buy or sell cases from one another, on pain
of dismissal from office.]
189. [The words of witnesses in criminal cases are not to be reported
at the public statement of the case, for they are to be seen by the
auditors alone, without being entrusted to anyone else. Penalty:
thirty pesos to the exchequer.]