Audiencia

American  

[aw-dee-en-see-uh, -chee-uh] / ˌɔ diˈɛn si ə, -tʃi ə /

noun

plural

Audiencias

1. Also, audiencia, historically, in monarchic Spain or its colonies, a court with legislative and executive as well as judicial functions, or the jurisdiction of such a court.

2. Also, audiencia, in modern Spain, the high court of an autonomous community or of a province, or the jurisdiction of such a court.

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Example Sentences

The 2023 decision was appealed before Spain’s high court, known as Audiencia Nacional, and is pending judgment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

Sidenor's chairman Jose Antonio Jainaga and two other executives are being investigated for alleged smuggling and complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide for selling steel to Israel Military Industries, the Audiencia Nacional court said.

From Barron's • Oct. 24, 2025

The trial at the country's top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, focuses on three investigations into Mr Villarejo's activities and is expected to last until January.

From BBC • Oct. 13, 2021

Last week the top criminal court, Audiencia Nacional, ordered police to close down Tsunami’s website, app, and social media channels—with little success.

From Slate • Oct. 29, 2019

But the Audiencia sequestered it all immediately, until the end of his residencia.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 29 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Various