The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 05 of 55 / 1582-1583 / Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century

by Unknown

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.