 On January 22, 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi proclaimed Guam a Spanish possession -- beginning a Spanish era that would last the next 333 years. It would be 103 years before the Spaniards would seek to gain complete control of the island and begin to administer it under a central government. Up until 1668 the Spanish were content to use the Marianas as a port of call, with no Spanish presence in any of the islands.
In 1668, Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores would lead an expedition of missionaries who would attempt to convert the Chamorros to Christianity. Initially successful, the mission would encounter violent opposition with eventually 6 members losing their lives. Among them, Padre San Vitores.
REBELLION TO TEMPORARY ALLEGIANCE
Using the 1672 martyrdom of Padre San Vitores at the hands of Chamorro Chief Matapang as a catalyst, the Spanish military began a vicious campaign against the native population. The first 8 years of the rebellion saw thousands of Chamorros fall to war and disease. Disturbed by reports of cruelty and massacres of the natives, the Spanish Crown appointed Captain Antonio de Savaria Governor of Guam. He was the given authority to administer an oath of allegiance to the Chamorros and accept them as Spanish subjects. Reeling from the effects of war and disease, the Chamorros sought a welcomed end to the fighting. On September 9, 1681, the Chamorro leadership took the following oath:
We, the governors and other chiefs of places and towns of this island of St. John, called Guahan, the capital and principal of these Mariana Islands, gathered in this church of the Society of Jesus, called the most Holy Name of Mary, in the hands of Reverend Emmanuel Sorzano, Vice-Provincial and Superior of the Mission, freely and spontaneously promise before the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost and before the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and swear with all possible solemnity upon the four gospels to remain faithful subjects of our Kin and legitimate rule, Don Carlos II, Monarch of Spain and of the Indies, and to obey the laws to which his Majesty decides to obligate us.
During Governor Saravia's term, the Chamorros were treated well. He appointed a leading Chamorri, Antonio Ayhi, to the post of Lieutenant General of Guam and placed the village police under y Maga'lahen Distrito (district Governor) and the village Chiefs. These were but a few of the rights afforded the Chamorros under Saravia Administration.
THE FINAL CONQUEST
Unfortunately Governor Saravia's term was short-lived. Barely two years after he took office, Saravia would die in November of 1683. The next Spanish Governor would renew attacks on the native nobility in order to bring the Chamorros under complete domination. Weakened and unprepared for the turn of events the Chamorros would fight their last battle under the leadership of the grandson of Taga. Out manned and outgunned, they would lose decisively.
The Spanish defeated the last remnants of Chamorro rebels on Agrigan Island off the coast of Tinian. The Chamorro rebellion had extended over 20 years (1672-1695), and in the end had sen the devastation of the Chamorro population and their way of life. Yet despite the near annihilation of the Chamorro people, the customs and nature of this culture still permeate in their descendants of today.
During the initial 100 years of Spanish government, what form of justice and the type of judicial system that existed was solely in the hands of the Spanish Governor of Guam, who was appointed by the King. By this time, the population of the Marianas had fallen from an estimated 100,000 people to less than 4,000 (according to a 1710 census commissioned by Spanish Governor Juan Antonio Pimentel). The result of war and disease had taken its toll on the island.Yet crime and punishment were not an overwhelming part of the social makeup of early Spanish Guam. True to the social customs of the native Chamorro population of the previous century, the people of Guam were for the most part peaceful and law abiding in the 1700's.
So much so that Padre Juan Jose Delgado, writes in 1751, "These islanders had such horror of homicide and theft that surely a great injustice is done to their country in the name of 'Robber Islands' (Islas de Ladrones); there has always existed among them such good faith that they never close their houses; they are always open, and no one every steals anything from his neighbor."
LAW OF THE INDIES
In 1791, the formal Laws of the Indies were adopted and implemented on Guam. These were a set of  rules developed by the Spanish that placed the island under the judicial authority of the Viceroy of Mexico. These laws had been in effect in practice throughout the 1700's, but until formally adopted, the Spanish Governor could exercise his own prerogatives and frequently did.
The Law of the Indies were drawn from Spain's experience with its colonies in the new world. Basically, they allowed a defendant to appeal to the Viceroy of Mexico, should he be dissatisfied with the Governor of Guam's ruling. Lack of communication and travel time made this virtually an impossible if not impractical practice for Guam.
AUDENCIA OF MANILA
After a 1815 revolt in Spain's colonies of the New World, control of Guam was transferred to the Governor of Manila. Guam became an 'audencia' of Manila via a Spanish edict in 1817.
As best described in Judge Benjamin J.F. Cruz's master thesis on the constitutional and legal history of Guam, the audencia supervised by an officer of the army or navy, who held the title Governor or Teniente Colonel. The Governor was assisted by a secretary or aide who held the title of Sargento Mayor, and was known to substitute for the Governor on occasion. Though the General order issued by the Governor had the effect of statute law, his powers were limited since they had to be approved by the Governor General of the Philippines, who was in turn held in check by the Law of the Indies.
In addition appeals could be made to the Tribunal Supremo of Madrid. The Governor's conduct and policy was examined by a traveling judge, and reported in a paper called a resendencia. It should be noted that the Superior Court of Guam recently discovered and restored a previously undocumented 1777 Spanish resendencia of Governor Antonio Apodaca (1774-76) among its files. This document is on display in the Guam Judicial Center's historical display.
PUNISHMENT UNDER SPAIN
 According to Guam historian Cox (in his book "The Island of Guam"), the administration of justice was mainly in the hands of the Governor. He was aided by the alcaldes in the municipalities who determined punishment and by the governadorcillos who carried them out. Explorer and botanist Freciynet wrote in 1819 that for serious cases carrying a "degrading punishment" the governor has to be assisted by a council composed of the sargento mayor, the two captains of the Spanish companies and the government secretary, the latter having no voice.
Frecycinet goes on to describe the punishment meted out by the Spanish Justice system: "Punishments were relatively severe, debt being one of the main offenses. According to Freycinet, after the death sentence the most severe punishments were whipping with a rope or lash, from 500 lashes to a much smaller number according to the gravity of the case. These were given in several sessions, if the number was too much for the culprit to receive at once. The theft of a few effects not belonging to the state was ordinarily punished by 100 blows. Forced labor, with or without leg chains was a punishment less miserable but as humiliating as the preceding. Canning and forced labor were inflicted from time to time on women who voluntarily aborted. Imprisonment was ordered for the less serious offenses. Agana and Umatac had prisons built for this purpose, but besides this there was in each village a special hut with fetters to assure provision for prisoners. Ranked persons either in the army or administration were, in case of legal offense, condemned to exile on Rota, Tinian or Saipan, to the deprivation of salary for a fixed length of time, or to removal to Manila for a more severe examination of conduct."
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