 It was given authority over the provinces of Santa Marta, Río de San Juan, Popayán, Guayana and Cartagena de Indias.The Audiencia was charged primarily with dispensing justice, but it was also to oversee the running of government and the settlement of the territory.It held its first session on April 7, 1550, in a mansion on the Plaza Mayor (today, Plaza de Bolívar) at the site which today houses the Colombian Palace of Justithey

Law VIII ("Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Santa Fe in the New Kingdom of Granada") of Title XV ("Of the Royal "Audiencias" and Chanceries of the Indies") of Book II of the "Recopilación de Leyes de las Indias" of 1680—which compiles the decrees of July 17, 1549; May 10, 1554; and August 1, 1572—describes the final limits and functions of the "Audiencia".