TITLE I. CONCERNING THE ACCUSERS OF CRIMINALS.
| I. | A Slave, Accused of a Crime, may be Demanded of his Master by the Officials of the District. |
| II. | For what Offences, and in what Manner, Freeborn Persons shall be put to the Torture. |
| III. | For what Offences, and in what manner Slaves, of Either Sex, shall be put to the Torture, on account of the Crimes of their Masters. |
| IV. | For what Offences, and in what manner, a Slave, or a Freedman, shall be Tortured. |
| V. | In what way an Accusation shall be Brought to the Notice of the King. |
| VI. | How Kings should Practise the Duties of Mercy. |
| VII. | He Alone shall be Considered Guilty who Committed the Crime. |
ANCIENT LAW.
I. A Slave, Accused of a Crime, may be Demanded of his Master by the Officials of the District.
Where a slave is charged with a crime, the judge shall first notify the master, superintendent, or agent, who has control of the accused, and order him to produce the slave in court; and should he refuse to do so, the governor of the city, or the judge may compel him to produce said slave. If the master, or he who has charge of his affairs, cannot be found, the slave shall be arrested and tried by the judge.
THE GLORIOUS FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
II. For what Offences, and in what Manner, Freeborn Persons shall be put to the Torture.
If moderation is displayed in the treatment of crimes, the wickedness of criminals can never be restrained. Therefore, if anyone should, in behalf of the king or the people, bring an accusation of homicide or adultery against a person equal to him in rank, or in palatine dignity, he who thus seeks the blood of another shall first have an opportunity to prove what he alleges. And if he cannot prove it in the presence of the king, or those appointed by the royal authority, an accusation shall be drawn up in writing, and signed by three witnesses; and the accused person may then be put to the question.
If the latter, after undergoing the torture, should prove to be innocent, the accuser shall at once be delivered up to him as a slave, to be disposed of at his will, except that he shall not be deprived of life. But if he should be willing to make a compromise with his accuser, he may accept from the latter as large a sum as may compensate him for the sufferings he has endured. The judge shall take the precaution to compel the accuser to specifically describe the alleged offence, in writing; and after he has done so, and presented it privately to the judge, the torture shall proceed; and if the confession of him who is subjected to the torture should correspond with the terms of the accusation, his guilt shall be considered to be established. But if the accusation should allege one thing, and the confession of the person tortured the opposite, the accuser must undergo the penalty hereinbefore provided; because persons often accuse themselves of crime while being tortured. But if the accuser, before he has secretly given the written accusation to the judge as aforesaid, should, either in his own proper person, or by anyone else, inform the party of what he is accused, then it shall not be lawful for the judge to subject the latter to torture, because the alleged offence has become publicly known. This rule shall also apply to all other freeborn persons. But if the accusation should not be that of a capital crime, but merely of theft, or of some minor breach of the law, nobles, or persons of superior rank, such as the officials of our palace, shall, upon such an accusation, under no circumstances, be put to the question; and if proof of the alleged offence is wanting, he who is accused must declare his innocence under oath.
All persons of inferior rank, and freeborn persons, when accused of theft, homicide, or any other crime, shall not be tortured upon such an accusation, unless the property involved is worth more than fifty solidi. But if the property is of less value than fifty solidi, and the accused is convicted upon legal testimony, he shall be compelled to make restitution, as prescribed by other laws; or if he should not be convicted, after purging himself by oath he shall receive the satisfaction granted by the law for those who have suffered from an improper demand for torture.
We hereby especially provide that a lowborn person shall not presume to accuse a noble or one of higher rank than himself; but if such a person should accuse another of crime, and proof of the same should be wanting, the person accused shall at once purge himself of all guilt by oath, and swear that he never took, nor has in his possession, the property on account of which he was prosecuted; and oath having been made, as aforesaid, he who brought the false accusation shall undergo the penalty for the same, as prescribed by a former law. But whether the person subjected to the torture is a noble, one of inferior rank, or a freeman, he must be tortured in the presence of the judge, or of certain respectable men appointed by him; and in such a way as not to lose his life, or the use of any of his limbs; and because the torture must be applied for the space of three days, if, as the result of accident, or through the malice of the judge, or the treachery of anyone else, he who is subjected to it should die; or if the judge, having been corrupted by the bribes of the adversary of the accused, should not prohibit the infliction of such torments as are liable to produce death; the judge himself shall be delivered up to the nearest relatives of the accused person, that, on account of his injustice, he may undergo at their hands the same sufferings which he unlawfully inflicted upon the accused.
If, however, he should declare himself under oath to be innocent, and witnesses who were present should swear that death did not result from any malice, treachery, or corruption of which he was guilty, but only as a result of the torture itself; for the reason that the said judge did not use his discretion to prevent excessive cruelty, he shall be compelled to pay fifty solidi to the heirs of the deceased; and if he should not have sufficient property to pay said sum, he shall be delivered up as a slave to the nearest heirs of the former. The accuser shall be surrendered to the nearest relatives of the deceased, and shall suffer the penalty of death, which he suffered who perished through his accusation.[32]
ANCIENT LAW.
III. For what Offences, and in what manner, Slaves, of Either Sex, shall be put to the Torture, on account of the Crimes of their Masters.
No slave, of either sex, shall be tortured in order to obtain evidence of crime against either his or her master or mistress, unless for adultery; or for some offence against the Crown, or against their country; or for counterfeiting, homicide, or witchcraft. And if slaves tortured for such reasons should be proved to be cognizant of the crimes of their masters, and to have concealed them, they shall be punished along with their masters in such way as the king may direct. But if they should voluntarily confess the truth before being put to the question, it will be sufficient if they undergo the torture in order to confirm their testimony, and they shall not suffer the penalty of death. But any slave of either sex, who, after being put to the torture for a capital crime, should also implicate his or her master, and the commission of said crime can be proved by competent evidence, they shall be subject to the same punishment as their master.
FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
IV. For what Offences, and in what manner, a Slave, or a Freedman, shall be Tortured.
Where a slave is accused of any crime, the accuser must, before the torture is inflicted, bind himself to give to the master in his stead, another slave of equal value, if the innocence of the slave should be established. But if the accused slave should be found innocent, and should die, or be disabled from the effects of the torture, the accuser must at once give to the master two other slaves, each equal in value to the one killed or disabled. The one who was injured shall be free, and remain under the protection of his master; and the judge who neglected to use moderation in the infliction of torture, and thus violated the law, shall give to the master another slave equal in value to the one who perished by torture.
In order that all doubt may be removed concerning the value of slaves in dispute, no statement of artificial or fraudulent value of the same shall be accepted; but information of their age and usefulness shall be obtained by personal examination of the slaves themselves; and if he who was disabled was skilled in any trade, and he who injured him when he was innocent possesses no slave proficient in the same trade, he shall be forced to give to the master a slave skilled in some other trade; but if he should not have such a skilled artisan, and he whose slave was injured by the torture should not be willing to accept another in his stead, then the accuser shall pay to the master the value of the slave that was injured, according to a reasonable estimate made by the judge, or by men of respectability and established character. It must, however, be observed, that no one shall presume to subject any freeborn person or slave to torture, unless he shall make oath in the presence of a judge, or his representative, the master of the slave or his agent being also present, that through no artifice, fraud, or malice, he is inflicting torture upon an innocent person. And if, after having been put to the question he should die, and his accuser should not have the means to make the reparation required by law, he himself shall be reduced to slavery, for the reason that he was the cause of the death of an innocent man. And if anyone, through treachery, should attempt to subject the slave of another to torture, and the master of said slave should prove that he was innocent of crime, the accuser shall be compelled to give to the master of the accused slave another of equal value, and to reimburse said master for any reasonable expense that he has incurred in defence of his slave, until, in the opinion of the judge, full satisfaction has been rendered by the unjust accuser to the master of the innocent slave.
In case a slave is found guilty of a minor offence, the master, if he chooses to do so, shall have a right to compound the same; but every thief shall be scourged according to the degree of his guilt. Where a master is not willing to give satisfaction for graver offences, he must immediately surrender the slave to justice. Any freeborn person who desires to subject a respectable freedman to the torture, in the case of a capital crime, or of offences of less gravity, shall not be permitted to do so, unless the value of the property involved in the accusation amounts to at least two hundred and fifty solidi. But if said freeborn person should be of inferior rank, and a boar, he may be tortured, if the value of the property amounts to a hundred solidi.
Where he who is put to the question should, through want of proper care, be disabled, then the judge who did not exercise moderation in the infliction of torture, shall pay two hundred solidi to him who suffered by his negligence; and he who caused him to be tortured unjustly, shall be compelled to pay him three hundred solidi; and if he should die while undergoing torture, the judge, as well as the accuser, shall each pay to the nearest relatives of the deceased the sums of money aforesaid. And, in like manner, in the case of freedmen of still lower rank, should anyone of them undergo mutilation or death, through want of caution on the part of those employing the torture, half of the sum hereinbefore mentioned as applying to respectable freedmen shall be paid to him who was tortured, should he be still living, or, if he is dead, to his heirs.[33]
THE GLORIOUS FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
V. In what way an Accusation shall be Brought to the Notice of the King.
If any person should bring a false accusation against another before the king, and should allege that he has plotted against the throne, the people, or his country, or that he was committing, or had committed some act to their prejudice; or had been guilty of some fraudulent act against the authority of the Crown, or of those exercising judicial functions; or had executed, or published any forged document; or had coined any spurious money; or had been guilty of giving poison, or of practising witchcraft; or of committing adultery with the wife of another; he who brings accusation of these and similar crimes, the punishment of which involves the loss of life and property, where he can establish the truth of his charges, shall, in no way, be subject to censure. But if his assertions should prove to be false, and it should be evident that he had only made them through hatred, and in order that he whom he attempted to accuse might suffer death, or bodily injury, or the loss of his property; he shall be delivered over into the power of him he accused, that he may himself suffer the penalty which he endeavored to inflict upon an innocent person.
Where anyone states that he is in the possession of any fact which should be brought to the notice of the king, and should be, at the time, in the place where the court was sojourning, he shall straightway reveal all that he knows, or shall communicate it to the ears of the king through the agency of some reliable person. If, however, at the time, the king should be at a distance, and the said party should believe that information in his possession relating to the accusation of another, ought to be sent to the king by the hands of a messenger, he must draw up a letter, and in it set forth plainly what he wishes to say concerning the alleged guilt of the accused; and he must do this in the presence of him whom he has selected to convey the information to the king. And, in order that he may not be able to deny the aforesaid communication, three witnesses, known to be men of respectable character, must, in the presence of one another, affix their seals or signatures to said letter.
FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS KING.
VI. How Kings should Practice the Duties of Mercy.
Whenever a supplication is made to us on behalf of those who have been implicated in any crime against our majesty, we willingly give attention to such appeals, and exercise the prerogative of mercy when it is consistent with our power. We must, however, refuse to interfere when a crime of this kind has been committed against the nation and our country. Yet, if a prince should desire to be merciful to persons of such wicked character, he shall have the right to do so, with the approval of the ecclesiastics and the principal officers of the court.
VII. He Alone shall be Considered Guilty who Committed the Crime.
Punishment for all crimes shall be visited upon the authors of the same; and a father shall suffer no penalty on account of his son; nor a son on account of his father; nor a wife on account of her husband; nor a husband on account of his wife; nor a brother on account of his brother; nor one neighbor on account of another; nor any person on account of a relative; but he alone shall be adjudged to be guilty who is responsible for the offence, and the crime shall die with him who committed it. Neither successors nor heirs shall, under any circumstances, be placed in jeopardy on account of the acts of their parents.