Anything Under the Sun
Spanish era administration of justice (1)
During the Spanish time, the administration of justice in the Philippines had five components -- the law, the judiciary, the law enforcement agencies, the prison system and the legal profession.
The Law
The laws governing the Philippine colony consisted of two categories: laws of general application in Spain and the laws specifically enacted to govern the colonies.
To the first category belonged the Siete Partidas promulgated by King Alfonso X in 1348, Leyes de Toro enacted by the Spanish Cortes in 1504, Nueva Recopilacion de las Leyes Indies de España of King Philip II in 1567 and Novisima Recopilacion of King Carlos IV in 1798. Later, those laws were extended to the Philippines thru the royal decrees, cedulas and consultas.
In the last century of the Spanish regime in the Philippines, the following codes were applied to the Philippines -- Codigo de Comercio of 1885, Codigo Penal of 1870, Code of Civil and Criminal Procedure of 1853 and Codigo Civil of 1889.
To the second category, belonged the series of legislations consisting of the many royal decrees, cedulas and consultas promulgated by the Consejo Real y Supremo de las Indies (Supreme Council of the Indies) created in 1524 by King Carlos V and sent to the applicable colonies.
Because of the great mass of these legislations, the Council made compilations of them and the first was applied in Mexico of which the Philippines was a province. Still later, in 1680 the council consolidated all these into Recopelacion de las Leyes de los Reynos de Indies applicable to all the Spanish colonies around the world.