Note 88 — Chapter III · THE JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE AUDIENCIA

The procedure in criminal cases was generally so similar to that already described that it is unnecessary to give any illustration of the audiencia’s criminal jurisdiction. Most of the cases that eventually reached the audiencia involved Spaniards, native caciques, and half-castes. Natives who were charged with robbery, murder, and crimes of a depraved nature were usually of a class unable to finance appeals to the audiencia. This fact probably accounts for the scarcity of criminal cases appealed during the first two centuries of the audiencia’s existence.88 However, the reforms of the nineteenth century brought an increased number of cases into the audiencia by systematizing the administration of justice, differentiating the judgeships from administrative offices, and providing for greater facility of appeal.89