The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 5 of 55 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 289 pages of information about The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 5 of 55.

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 5 of 55 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 289 pages of information about The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 5 of 55.

157. [Cases affecting the treasury, in which no party appears therefor, are to be brought to the attention of the fiscal.]

158. [Fees are not to be charged to poor suitors; if the poor suitor’s opponent is condemned in costs, the fees are to be paid by the poor suitor and added to the costs.]

159. [Fees for permitting an examination of records are not to be charged, unless the examination is made by the party or his representative.  Fourfold penalty to the exchequer.]

160. [Copies of essential documents are to be included in the record of a case without extra fees.  Penalty:  twenty pesos to the court-room of our Audiencia.]

161. [Unsigned interrogatories are not to be accepted.  Questions must be put only by the counselor of the Audiencia.]

162. [Cases requiring to be divided by assignment among various clerks shall not be accepted without immediate reference to the official whose duty it is to assign cases.  Penalty:  loss of cases for two months, and loss of the case in question.]

163. [Records and documents must not be committed to the care of any but attorneys or counselors, and to them only on their giving a receipt.  Fines are imposed for delay in returning them.]

164. [No record is to be kept of a case of twenty pesos or less, and no fee of more than half a peso from each party is to be taken in such case.  Fourfold penalty to the exchequer.]

165. [No fees are to be taken for a view of the records, in cases appealed from ecclesiastical courts, on the ground of violence to law [fuerza], if the case is referred back to those courts.  Penalty:  fourfold fine to the exchequer.]

166. [Fees are to be charged only for the record of such judicial acts as are actually before them, although the whole record is transmitted therewith.  Previous penalty.]

167. [Charges of violation of their oath are to be preferred by the fiscal in the event of failure to attend on him with the weekly fines, or of making excessive charges.]

168. [Clerks must be present half an hour before the court convenes; and petitions must be handed in before the president and auditors take their seats in court.  Penalty:  two pesos of gold paid to the court-room.]

169. [They must affirm with their signatures the sentences given after review by the president and auditors, and written in a book kept in the president’s room, before the third day next following.  This is done so that the sentences may be known, and to avoid fraud, as the sentences are pronounced after review.  Penalty:  double the amount in question to the exchequer.]

170. [They must write the decisions of the court by their own hands, especially in affairs of importance, as secrets would not be safe with minor officials.  Penalty:  six pesos to the court-room.]

171. [The clerks of the said Audiencia or of the criminal court shall levy no fees on the cases pleaded before the said president, auditors and alcaldes, to which the fiscal attorneys are a party, even if the decision is for the said fiscals, with judgment of costs against the other party; and they shall not put them on the record, nor collect them from the condemned persons.  P.:  forty pesos for the chamber of this Audiencia, and payment of twice the amount collected to the exchequer.]

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The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 5 of 55 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.