The Council of the Indies, as established in 1524, consisted of a president, a high chancellor, eight members who were lawyers, a fiscal, two secretaries and a lieutenant chancellor. [17] All these were required to be of noble birth and qualified by experience and ability to carry to a successful issue the high responsibilities which they were called upon to discharge. [18] Besides there was a corps of accountants, auditors, copyists, reporters and clerks. The number of these last-mentioned functionaries was enormous, especially in subsequent years, when correspondence with twelve or thirteen different colonies was maintained. The Council of the Indies was the high court of appeal to which all cases from the colonial audiencias came for final adjudication. It was, however, not only a court of appeal in judicial matters, but also a directive ministry for the supervision of the administrative acts of the colonial audiencias and executives. The unqualified success of the Audiencia of Santo Domingo, both as a tribunal of justice and as an administrative organ, led to the general establishment of the institution throughout the Spanish colonial empire. The audiencias which were created in Spain's colonies from 1526 to 1893 follow in the order of their establishment. [19] Santo Domingo, created September 14, 1526, consisting of a president, four oidores, [20] and a fiscal. Mexico, [21] created November 29, 1527, consisting of two chambers or salas, a criminal and a civil, a president, eight oidores, four alcaldes del crimen, and two fiscales for civil and criminal cases respectively. Panamá, created February 30, 1535, with a president, four oidores and a fiscal. Lima, created November 20, 1542, with two chambers, a civil and a criminal, a president, eight oidores, four criminal alcaldes, and two fiscales, as in Mexico. Santiago de Guatemala, created September 13, 1543, with a president, five oidores, and a fiscal. Guadalajara, created February 15, 1548, with a president, four oidores, and a fiscal. Santa Fé (New Granada), created July 17, 1549, with a president, four oidores, and a fiscal. La Plata (Charcas), created September 4, 1559, with a president, five oidores, and a fiscal. San Francisco de Quito, created November 29, 1563, with a president, four oidores, and a fiscal. Manila, created May 5, 1583, with a president, four oidores, and a fiscal. Santiago de Chile, created February 17, 1609, with a president, four oidores, and a fiscal. Buenos Ayres, created November 2, 1661, with a president, three oidores, and a fiscal; recreated July 2, 1778, when Buenos Ayres was made a viceroyalty. Caracas, created June 13, 1786, with a regent, three oidores, and a fiscal. Cuzco, created February 26, 1787, with a regent, three oidores, and a fiscal.