Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 11).djvu/42

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
[Vol. 11

exercised and observed, by the royal official judges of the City of Mexico in Nueva España, especially section seventeen of the said royal ordinance. By this act they so provided, ordered, and decreed.

Before me: Pedro Hurtado Desquibel


An act ordering the commissioners to be present at all sessions of the Audiencia.

In the city of Manila, on the twenty-first of January, one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine, the president and auditors of the royal Audiencia of the Filipinas Islands declared that, whereas, although by the royal ordinances the commissioners of this royal Audiencia are obliged to be present at the assemblies, they are not there; and thus many cases that come up, both civil and criminal, are delayed in settlement, so that considerable harm and annoyance result to the parties concerned; and furthermore, that official and fiscal cases are delayed, because the said commissioners to all appearances do not employ therein the necessary diligence: therefore, to remedy this condition of affairs, they decreed and ordered that, now and henceforth, all the said commissioners, unless they have legitimate occupation or obstacle, shall be present without fail in the hall at all the sessions of the Audiencia with the greatest punctuality, so that in all matters there may be the prompt action which is desirable, under penalty of a fine of one peso from him who shall disobey this decree, the fine to be applied immediately upon condemnation, in this manner—six reals to the poor in the prisons, and two for the bailiff who has to execute the decree. By this act they so provided, ordered, and decreed.

Before me: Pedro Hurtado Desquibel

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