Contumacia (DCH) (Contumacy (DCH))

No. 2020-24

The contumacy was a polyvalent concept, whose meanings and scope were defined by different types of normativities. The notion of contumacy was indissolubly related to the concept of rebellion, as well as those of pertinacity and disobedience, for which it was considered an aggravating factor in a number of sins and crimes. To understand its legal specificity and its scope in Hispanic America, the article analyses the different kinds of contumacy, the procedural elements involved in the different types of causes, as well as their particularities regarding the indigenous population.