Law of the Indies – the first Hispano-American legal system

Abstract

Law of the Indies was the Spanish colonial law the legal system created for the needs of Spanish overseas colonies, called by term Indies. It could be the law created by institutions with legislative power, residing both in Spain and in Indies, and also the local customary law of Spanish colonies with exception of customary law of indigenous population. The history of Law of the Indies can be divided into three basic periods. The first of them can be described as the period of creation of the Law of the Indies, which was not yet accompanied by efforts to its systematization. The second period was age, when there were developed – alongside legislative activity – very prolific activities focused on compilation and systematization of colonial law, which resulted in creation of important collections of colonial legislation. For the third period of 18th and 19th century there were typical reforms in the sphere of
colonial economy and administration. In the second half of 18th century there was revived compilatory activity in the sphere of Law of the Indies. However, it did not reach the intensity of similar activities in the 16th and 17th century.