When Santo Domingo again came under Spanish rule in 1809, the colony was included in the territorial jurisdiction of the audiencia of Caracas. Upon the beginning of Haitian rule in 1822, when most of the distinguished citizens, including judges and lawyers, left the country, they took with them the ancient legal system. The Haitians imposed their laws, namely, the Code Napoleon and other French codes. These took such deep root that on the expulsion of the Haitians no attempt was made to return to the Spanish laws, which also at that time were still under the disadvantage of not having been revised and codified in accordance with modern needs. In 1845 the laws of France were expressly adopted by the Dominican Republic. During the troublous times following little attention was given to the legal system, and there was not even a Spanish translation of the codes. After annexation to Spain in 1861 the Spanish authorities attempted to clarify the situation by introducing the Spanish penal code and law of criminal procedure and by appointing a commission to translate the civil code, in which they made several changes, but upon the reestablishment of the Republic in 1865 everything done in this respect by the Spaniards was annulled. Several efforts were later made to secure a translation of the codes, though laws were not often invoked amid so much civil unrest. As late as 1871 the American commission which visited the island reported that the administration of justice had practically fallen into disuse. The local military chiefs and the parish priests decided the questions that arose. As the country progressed in spite of itself, and there were periods of peace, the need of an official Spanish text of the laws became more pressing, and at length in 1882 a commission was appointed to translate and adapt the French codes. On the report of the commission a civil code, a code of civil procedure, a code of commerce, a penal code, a code of criminal procedure and a military code were approved in the year 1884. They are literal translations of the French codes with a few modifications to adapt them to local conditions. The penal codes are such close translations that several paragraphs relating to juries were retained, although the institution does not exist in Santo Domingo. It was tried in 1857, but discontinued in the following year. The Dominican Congress made but few changes in these important laws, which have therefore been more permanent than the constitution. The need for a further revision of the Dominican codes became urgent, however, and such revision has very recently been concluded by a commission which sat for that purpose; it is now being considered with a view to an early promulgation of the codes in amended form. Santo Domingo, the first Spanish colony, thus has no Spanish laws. It is the only Spanish country which has adopted French legislation so completely, and which looks so largely to France for its jurisprudence.