The secrecy in the Royal Trial of the High Court in Seville

Between the rule and the judicial practice (XVI-XVII centuries)

Abstract

From the original ordinances regulating the appeal judges to the Royal High Court of Seville, the central role of the secrecy of the deliberations and votes of the judges board as a guarantee of justice is revealed, as in the other supreme courts of the Monarchy. The secret involved the entire process of formation of the will of the board of judges until the moment of the sentence. In addition to the reference Castilian regulations, the judicial ordinances of the Court itself and the municipal ordinances of the city took care of rigorously regulating such an important pillar of royal justice in order to guarantee the secrecy of the agreement. The principle of secrecy was projected over all the magistrates and the regent or president of the Court, although it also linked the prosecutor and other court officials. The preservation of the duty of secrecy was intended to be guaranteed through a strict regulation that established preventive and repressive control mechanisms. The judicial ordinances and visits made to the Royal Court show relevant indications of the degree of non-compliance with such a central principle of higher justice.