Note 67 — Chapter VI · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: GENERAL RELATIONS

Besides his judicial authority the governor shared legislative functions with the audiencia. We have noted in an earlier chapter that the acuerdo passed ordinances for the domestic welfare and local government of the colony. It prescribed rules and issued regulations for merchants, encomenderos, and religious, in accordance with the rulings for royal ecclesiastical patronage. The acuerdo developed from the advisory power of the audiencia. The king in his first decrees ordered the viceroys and presidents to consult with the oidores whenever the interests of the government demanded it,67 and if necessary the opinions of the magistrates could be required in writing. When an agreement was reached upon a given subject, they voted in acuerdo and gradually that acuerdo came to have the force of law. On many occasions the acuerdo prevailed over the governor’s will. There was no constitutional basis for this, and the acuerdo, when it became a legislative function in passing ordinances and overruling the governor himself, assumed prerogatives which were never exercised by the audiencias of Spain.68