Governors have some summary powers of justice,…

Governors have some summary powers of justice, but audiencias (courts) are also established.

The first such audiencia, in Santo Domingo, Hispaniola, has jurisdiction over the whole area of conquest.

As settlement spreads, other audiencias are set up.

By a decree of 1538, all Spanish territory from Nicaragua to Cape Horn was to be administered from an audiencia in Panama.

This audiencia lasts only until 1543 because of the impossibility of exercising jurisdiction over so vast an area. A new Panamanian audiencia, with jurisdiction over an area more nearly coinciding with the territory of present-day Panama, is established in 1563.

The viceroy's position is revived for the rich empires of Mexico and Peru.

Panama is attached to the Viceroyalty of Peru after 1567 but retains its own audiencia.