FOR some individuals, certain requirements of membership of the Kahal Kados de Talmud Tora were too onerous to be passed over in silence. The Mahamad, for their part, regarded some infractions as just too serious to be overlooked. Conflicts ensued. The Mahamad applied the only powers it possessed: the right to deny someone all or some of the privileges of membership of the Kahal, and excommunication, which not only cancelled a person's membership but also removed him from any and all interaction with the nação. The yehidim responded by swallowing their pride and settling their differences, or by severing their ties with the Kahal. In the latter option Amsterdam's Portuguese Jews possessed a latitude rarely encountered in pre-modern Jewish communities. This relative freedom, in turn, imposed clear and immediate restraints upon the exercise of authority by the parnasim. Too incongruous or indiscriminate an application of force might alienate a yahid and result in his departure from the Kahal.

There existed little by way of an independent court to adjudicate in communal conflicts, whether between individuals or between yehidim and parnasim. The records do occasionally refer to a rabbinical court, but its mandate appears to have been limited to strictly religious matters. Capitolo 20 of the communal agreement has the following to say about the Bet Din, the rabbinical court:

All the dinim that will present themselves and that will have to be decided upon will be seen and examined by the salaried hahamim, according to a majority vote.