Real Audiencia of Manila

The Real Audiencia of Manila, also called the Royal Audience of Manila, was the Spanish colonial high court of the Spanish East Indies, a territory that included modern Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Micronesia and the Philippines. It was the highest tribunal in the Captaincy General of the Philippines, a dependency of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Governor-General of the Philippines was appointed as its highest judge, so that on many occasions his absence forced other members to rule the tribunal and assume temporary civilian and military powers. King Felipe II created it by royal decree dated 5 May 1583 and it was established in 1584, after earlier audiencias in Santo Domingo, Mexico, Panama, Guatemala and Guadalajara. The Recopilacion de Leyes de las Indias of 1680 places it in Manila with a president who was governor and captain general, four judges of civil cases who also judged criminal cases, a crown attorney and a bailiff, with a district covering Luzon and the rest of the Philippines.