Spanish Abstract: La excepcion, instrumento juridico con que el demandado intentaba excluir la accion del demandante, nace en el derecho procesal romano, pasa al derecho canonico y el derecho castellano y se adapta de acuerdo con las condiciones locales del derecho canonico en Indias. Este articulo expone detalladamente la regulacion de las excepciones procesales en el ordenamiento de la Iglesia catolica en las Indias durante el periodo comprendido entre los siglos XVI al XVIII, segun las fuentes normativas de mayor uso y circulacion. El autor ofrece un analisis del concepto, sus clasificaciones y formas de tramitacion, asi como de la interaccion entre el foro civil y el eclesiastico. La exposicion abarca las normas aplicables, tanto en el campo del derecho canonico universal como las especificas de la Iglesia en Indias. En este ultimo campo, la regulacion de las excepciones tuvo en cuenta las enormes distancias geograficas en el Nuevo Mundo, que exigian medidas que atemperasen la prolongacion y carestia de los pleitos; las dificultades de la Corona para conocer con certeza las circunstancias que rodeaban una decision, como podia ser la concesion de una encomienda; y la necesidad de proteger a los indios, entre otros aspectos. El articulo finaliza con un balance historiografico de la institucion. English Abstract: The exception, a legal instrument by means of which the defendant tried to exclude the plaintiff's action, arose in Roman procedural law, it passed to canon law and Castilian law, and was adapted to the canon law for the Spanish territories according to local conditions. This paper analyses in detail the regulation of procedural exceptions in the legal system of the Catholic Church in Hispanic America and the Philippines between the 16th and 18th century, according to the most widely used and circulating normative sources. The author provides an analysis of the concept, its classifications and forms of processing, as well as the interaction between the civil and ecclesiastical forum. It covers the applicable norms, both in the field of universal canon law and those specific to the Church in Spanish America. In this respect, the regulation of exceptions took into account the enormous geographical distances in the New World, which demanded measures to mitigate the duration and costs of lawsuits. These exceptions also considered the difficulties of the Spanish Crown to know with certainty the circumstances of a decision such as the granting of an ‘encomienda’, as well as the need to protect indigenous people, among other topics. The paper concludes with a historiographic overview of this legal institution.