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Real Audiencia of Lima
| Audiencia y Cancillería Real de la Ciudad de los Reyes | |
 | |
 Engraving by Felipe Huamán Poma de Ayala depicting the Real Audiencia of Lima | |
| Type | Court of appeals |
|---|---|
| Created | November 20, 1542 |
| Dissolved | July 28, 1821 |
| Successor | Superior Court of Justice of Lima |
| Jurisdiction | Viceroyalty of Peru |
| Seat | Lima |
| Dependent on | Council of the Indies |
The Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Lima (Audiencia y Cancillería Real de Lima), or the Royal Audiencia and Chancery of the City of the Kings (Audiencia y Cancillería Real de la Ciudad de los Reyes), was the highest court of appeals of the Spanish Crown in the province of Lima of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
History
The Real Audiencia of Lima was created on November 20, 1542, together with the Viceroyalty of Peru, by the Emperor Charles I, and was established in 1543, abolishing and incorporating part of the territory of the Real Audiencia of Panama.
... we order and command that in the provinces or kingdoms of Peru there shall reside a viceroy and a royal audiencia of four lettered oidores, and the said viceroy shall preside over the said audiencia, which shall reside in the City of the Kings, as it is the most suitable location, because from now on there is to be no Audiencia in Panama.[1]
On September 4, 1559, the Real Audiencia of Charcas was created with part of the territory of the Audiencia of Lima, for which reason the Viceroy Count of Nieva designated the original territory of the former on May 20, 1561: "the said city of La Plata with more than one hundred leagues of land around it on every side".
King Philip II expanded the jurisdiction of Charcas at the expense of that of Lima on August 29, 1563, with the incorporation of the Governorate of Tucumán, Juríes and Diaguitas, the Governorate of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (the latter formed by the former governorates of Andrés Manso and Ñuflo de Chaves), the Province of Moxos and Chunchos, and the lands extending up to the city of Cuzco with its districts (dependent corregimientos). In 1566 the territories of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata and Paraguay were separated from it and added to Charcas.
King Philip II, in the city of Guadalajara on August 29, 1563, issued a real cédula by which he created the Real Audiencia of Quito with territories detached from that of Lima. It was inaugurated on September 18, 1564.
The City of Cuzco and its dependencies were reintegrated into the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Lima, and it was established that Charcas would retain the territory "from the Collao toward the City of La Plata".
We declare and command that the said city of Cuzco, with its district and jurisdiction, is to be and shall be subject to and under the jurisdiction of the royal audiencia of the said City of the Kings, as it was before (...)
On May 26, 1573, the territory of the Collao was demarcated between the two audiencias:
(...) declaring, as we do declare, that from the said Collao toward the city of La Plata it shall begin from the town of Ayoviri, which is that of the encomienda of Juan Pancorvo, along the road of Urcosuyo, and from the town of Asilo, which is of the encomienda of Jerónimo de Castilla, along the road of Omasuyos, and along the road of Arequipa from Atuncana, which is of the encomienda of Carlos Inca, toward the side of the Charcas.
The Recopilación de Leyes de Indias of May 18, 1680, in Law V (Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Lima in Peru) of Title XV (Of the Royal Audiencias and Chanceries of the Indies) of Book II, sets out the boundaries and officials of this Audiencia:[2]
In the City of the Kings, Lima, Head of the Provinces of Peru, there shall reside another of our Royal Audiencias and Chanceries, with a Viceroy, Governor and Captain General and our Lieutenant, who shall be President: eight Oidores: four Alcaldes del Crimen, and two Fiscales: one for Civil matters, and another for Criminal matters: an Alguacil mayor, a Lieutenant of the Grand Chancellor: and the other Ministers and Officials necessary: and it shall have as its district the Coast that runs from the said City to the Kingdom of Chile exclusive, and to the Port of Payta inclusive: and inland to San Miguel de Piura, Caxamarca, Chachapoyas, Moyobamba, and the Motilones, inclusive, and up to the Collao, exclusive, by the boundaries assigned to the Royal Audiencia of La Plata, and the City of Cuzco with its own, inclusive, bordering on the North with the Royal Audiencia of Quito: on the South with that of La Plata: on the West with the South Sea: and on the East with undiscovered Provinces, as they are designated to them, and with the declaration contained in law 14 of this title.
Law XV (That the Corregidor of Arica, although of the district of the Audiencia of Lima, shall comply with the orders of that of the Charcas) of the same book and title establishes a special dependency for the Corregimiento of Arica:[2]
We command that, notwithstanding that the City and Port of Arica is and lies within the district of the Royal Audiencia of the Kings, the Corregidor who is, or shall be, of it, shall comply with the orders of the Royal Audiencia of the Charcas, and shall receive and dispatch, as he is ordered, the persons it sends into exile. And we order our Audiencia of the Charcas that, should the Corregidor fail to comply with the aforesaid, it shall do justice.
Law XXXXVJ of the same book and title as the previous ones includes the real cédula of the Emperor Charles I of March 19, 1550, ordering: "That the Audiencia of Lima, when the office of Viceroy is vacant, shall govern the districts of those of the Charcas, Quito and Tierra Firme".
By the order of May 27, 1717, which created the Viceroyalty of New Granada, it was ordered that the Real Audiencia of Panama be abolished once again and incorporated into Lima:
... and likewise proceeding to the city of Panama, he shall extinguish and abolish also the Audiencia that exists there, on the understanding that the territory and jurisdiction comprised in it I have forthwith added to the Viceroy, Audiencia and tribunal of accounts of Lima, (...) Dated in Segovia on May 27, 1717.- I the King.[3]
Owing to economic problems in Tierra Firme, on June 20, 1751, the Crown ordered the definitive abolition of the Real Audiencia of Panama, its jurisdiction passing to that of Lima, although on July 19, 1751, another real cédula ordered that the jurisdiction over that territory pass to the Audiencia of Santafé.
On March 28, 1768, the Viceroy of Peru separated the Government of Chiloé from the jurisdiction of the Captain General of Chile and of the Real Audiencia of Santiago, which was confirmed by the King on October 15, 1768:
(...) to separate, at least for now, and subject to the approval of H. M., the temporal jurisdiction of that island and its adjacent territories from the captaincy general of Chile and the royal audiencia of Santiago; (...) As viceroy and captain general of the kingdoms of Peru and Chile, I command in the name of H. M. that the said province, its castles, islands, strongholds and fortresses, for now and for as long as the operations to be undertaken for its fortification, the better service of the king and the benefit of the said natives last, shall remain subject to this captaincy general and in political matters to this royal audiencia, where they may lodge the appeals that the laws permit.[4]
At the time of the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776, the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Lima comprised 48 corregimientos, each of which depended on one of the five lieutenancies of government of the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Arequipa, Huamanga and Cuzco.
- Dependent on the lieutenancy of government of Lima were the corregimientos of: Cercado de Lima, Chancay, Ica, Cañete, Tarma, Huanuco, Huaylas, Conchucos, Cajatambo, Huamalíes, Jauja, Huarochiri, Canta, Yauyos and Santa.
- Dependent on that of Trujillo were the corregimientos of: Trujillo, Cajamarca, Cajamarquilla or Pataz, Chachapoyas, Luya and Chillaos, Saña or Lambayeque and Piura.
- Dependent on that of Arequipa were the corregimientos of: Arequipa, Condesuyos, Caylloma, Camaná, Moquegua and Anca.
- Dependent on that of Huamanga were the corregimientos of: Huamanga, Huancavelica, Angaraes, Castrovirreyna, Lucanas, Vilcashuaman, Huanta and Parinacochas.
- Dependent on that of Cuzco were the corregimientos of: Cuzco, Quispicanchis, Canas and Canchis or Tinta, Abancay, Chumbivilcas, Calca and Lares, Andahuaylas, Cotobambas, Aymaraes, Chilques and Masques or Paruro, Paucartambo and Urubamba (those of Lampa, Azángaro and Carabaya were under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Charcas).[5]
In 1821, because General José de San Martín seized Lima, the Intendancy of Arequipa was added to the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Cuzco, where it remained until the end of the viceroyalty in 1825.
The Real Audiencia of Lima was replaced by the "Chamber of Appeals" created by José de San Martín in 1821,[6] the predecessor of the "Superior Court of the North" created by Simón Bolívar and the present-day Superior Court of Justice of La Libertad.
See also
- Superior Court of Justice of La Libertad
- Judicial Branch
- Judicial districts of Peru
- Real Audiencia of Cuzco
References
- ↑ Leyes Nuevas. Biblioteca
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias (1680). Título Quince. De las Audiencias y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias (PDF) (in español).
- ↑ Contestación de Venezuela al alegato de Colombia, pp. 423–425. Author: Julián Viso. Published by Est. Tipográfico de los Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, 1884
- ↑ [Historia jeneral de Chile. pp. 165–166. Authors: Diego Barros Arana, Vicuña Mackenna Carlos Tomás. Published by R. Jover, 1886]
- ↑ Miguel Luque Talaván (1999). Revista Complutense de Historia de América (PDF) (in español). Universidad Complutense de Madrid. ISSN 1132-8312.
- ↑ Miguel Mendiburu Mendocilla. "Primera Corte de Justicia del Perú Republicano" (in español). Poder Judicial del Perú.
Bibliography
- De la Puente Brunke, José (2001). "Los Ministros de la Audiencia y la administración de justicia en Lima (1607-1615)". Revista de estudios histórico-jurídicos (in español) (23): 429–439. ISSN 0716-5455.
