Note 62 — Chapter VI · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: GENERAL RELATIONS

Closely related to the governor’s jurisdiction over banishment was his jurisdiction over cases of persons entering the Islands or departing from them without royal permission.62 He exercised final jurisdiction here over civil and ecclesiastical authorities, encomenderos, and private persons. The law forbade any person to enter or leave the Islands without the royal permission, and the governor was charged with the execution of this law. Encomenderos were not to leave the Islands on pain of confiscation of their encomiendas.63 While the laws of May 25, 1596, and of June 4, 1620, gave authority to the governor over the religious, relative to their entrance into the Islands and departure therefrom,64 the cédula of July 12, 1640, authorized the audiencia to enforce the law on this subject; especially was the tribunal to see that no ecclesiastics departed for Japan and China without the proper authority.65 Although there can be no doubt of the finality of the governor’s jurisdiction in this matter, yet the audiencia exercised an advisory power, and an authority to check irregularities, particularly with a view to seeing that the governor did his duty and fulfilled his obligations in the matter. Numerous instances exist to show that whenever this subject was treated in a royal order or decree, copies of the law were sent to the audiencia for its information. On other occasions when there was reason to believe that there had been irregularities in the procedure of a governor, the audiencia complained to the Council of the Indies. This was done for example in 1779 when Governor Sarrio conceded permission for several priests to go to Mexico. This action the audiencia claimed to be irregular, since the Council of the Indies had not been notified or consulted. The king, on March 6, 1781, approved the action of the governor on the basis of the laws above referred to.66