TITLE II. CONCERNING CAUSES.

I.No One can Refuse to Answer because the Plaintiff has Never Presented his Claim to Him.
II.The Court must be Disturbed by no Clamor or Tumult.
III.Where there are Many Litigants, Two may be Chosen who shall have Power to carry on the Suit.
IV.Both Parties may be Compelled by the Judge, or the Bailiff, to be Present in Court on the Day when the Case is to be Heard.
V.Those whose Affairs have been brought before a Tribunal for a Decision, shall, under no Circumstances, enter into a Compromise before the Case has been Decided.
VI.Both Parties shall be Required to Furnish Testimony.
VII.Concerning the Journey which any one Compels an Innocent Person to Make.
VIII.Where any one Residing in the District of one Judge has a Cause of Action against a Party Living in the District of another Judge.
IX.Concerning Those who Venture to Defend the Suits of Others.
X.No Freeman shall Refuse to Answer the Slave of another in Court.

FLAVIUS RECESVINTUS, KING.

I. No One can Refuse to Answer because the Plaintiff has Never Presented his Claim to Him.

No one can interpose a defense to the action of any plaintiff by saying that the latter has no right to bring a suit, because he has not made formal demand upon him for his claim, unless he can show that the time within which the suit may be brought, has expired.

FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.

II. The Court must be Disturbed by no Clamor or Tumult.

The court shall not be disturbed by any tumult or clamor whatever; those who have no interest in the case shall be compelled to withdraw; and only such as are known to be concerned in the proceedings shall come into the presence of the court. But if the judge desires spectators to be present, he can permit it, in case he should wish to confer with them about the case. But if he should be unwilling, no one shall be allowed to enter the court room, either to aid one party by improper suggestions, or to interpose objections to the conduct of the other, whereby either party may be unnecessarily annoyed. And if any one, having been admonished by the judge to be silent, should not obey, nor desist in his attempts to aid either party, and should, in defiance of this warning, continue to interfere, he shall be compelled to pay ten golden solidi to the judge. And if he should still persist in his conduct, he shall be unceremoniously ejected from the court.

III. Where there are Many Litigants, Two may be Chosen who shall have Power to carry on the Suit.

If the litigants are more numerous on one side than on the other, both sides, in turn, shall select from their number, parties to carry on their case. For all ought not to participate in the conduct of the action, but, as we have said, those chosen by both sides should alone appear in court, so that all noise and confusion may be avoided.

FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.

IV. Both Parties may be Compelled by the Judge, or the Bailiff, to be Present in Court on the Day when the Case is to be Heard.

Often, through the negligence of the judges or the bailiffs, when security is not required of the parties, one or the other of them unnecessarily suffers inconvenience or injury. For when one party is present in court, and the other is absent, no little expense is often incurred by the former. Therefore, we decree that all judges, and all upon whom judicial power has been conferred, whenever the time arrives in any suit for the giving of security; or when a cause is about to be heard, or settlement to be made; both parties, that is the plaintiff as well as the defendant, shall be required to give bond, that, upon the day appointed for trial, either in person, or by representatives, they shall be present in court, in order that the case may be heard, or the claim otherwise disposed of; and if either party should refuse to come, and absent himself upon the appointed day; or if sickness, or any accident during his journey, should prevent him from coming; and he should not communicate the fact to the judge or his attorney; and should not appear in court within the time prescribed by law, and the case should be delayed on that account; he shall pay the amount of the bond to him before whom he entered into the obligation. And if either the judge or the bailiff should neglect to exact security from both parties, as aforesaid, and, while compelling one party to give bond should excuse the other, he shall pay out of his own property, a sum equal to that for which he wished to make him liable whom alone he placed under bond. And if, to the injury of either party, the judge or the bailiff should restore to one the undertaking which he had exacted from the other, or should destroy or conceal it, he shall pay him on account of whom the bond was executed, out of his own property, a penalty equal to that which was inserted in the bond.

He who brought the suit may then insist that it be carried on without further delay. The penalty, although declared in the bond to be payable to the judge or the bailiff, shall not entirely belong to them; but, after the case has been decided, they shall be entitled to half of said penalty, and the other half shall be given to the party who gains the suit.

V. Those whose Affairs have been brought before a Tribunal for a Decision, shall, under no Circumstances, enter into a Compromise before the Case has been Decided.

If cases are not permanently disposed of by the temperate decision of the judge, not only do great difficulties arise in settling the disputes of litigants, but the course of justice is often interfered with, through the irreconcilability of adverse claims; for many persons, after they have brought their disputes before the royal tribunal to be finally determined, in order to avoid the legal penalty for their conduct, settle, by agreement between themselves, the cause which they have brought to the hearing of the king. Lest, therefore, any party by means of such a fraud may escape the justice of the court, we decree, by this law, that whoever, hereafter, shall apply to the royal tribunal for the determination of his case against another, shall, under no circumstances, absent himself, or make any compromise with his adversary, but shall prosecute the cause already begun until the king shall have given a decision in the matter. And, if either plaintiff or defendant should neglect to carry on the action before the king, or before those whom he has chosen to hear it, or should enter into any arrangement with the other party, each shall pay to the Crown the sum which he who filed the petition, could have obtained, had he gained the suit; and whatever shall be thus obtained by the king in this proceeding he can dispose of at his pleasure. All those shall be liable to a similar penalty, who seek to have their disputes settled by a judicial decision, and, after the cause has been begun, refuse to proceed with it and presume to compromise with one another.

The judge and the bailiff shall have the right to divide the aforesaid penalty between them. But if the parties should not have sufficient property to pay said penalty, each shall receive one hundred lashes with a scourge, and the judge shall terminate the suit forthwith. We decree, however, that those shall be free from the operation of this law to whom the royal mandate was especially directed, as well as those whom the judge, who heard the cause, shall have dismissed, after a settlement has been effected with his consent.

FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.

VI. Both Parties shall be Required to Furnish Testimony.

Whenever a cause is heard, both parties, that is, plaintiff as well as defendant, shall be required to produce evidence, and the judge shall decide which side is entitled to a decree. But if, after the testimony has been taken, the truth does not appear to have been established, the defendant shall declare under oath that the property in question, if any has been demanded of him, has never been, and is not now, in his possession, and that he is not aware of any reason why he should be sued, and that he truly does not know that he has done anything to render him liable, in any way, to the party who complains of him, and after the defendant has thus made oath, the plaintiff shall be compelled to pay him five solidi.

FLAVIUS RECESVINTUS, KING.

VII. Concerning the Journey which any one Compels an Innocent Person to Make.

All those whose innocence is established, should be free from injury, and exempt from annoyance by unprincipled men. Henceforth, whenever any one shall cause another to be wrongfully summoned before the king, or brought, without cause, before a court; as soon as it has been proved that the claim of the plaintiff was not well founded; if the party has, in obedience to a summons, been compelled to come fifty miles, or less, he shall receive from the plaintiff five solidi, on account of the unjust demand by the latter. If he has been forced to come a distance of sixty miles, the unjust plaintiff shall pay him six solidi; and so on, the number of solidi increasing at the rate of one for every ten miles; and, for the distance of one hundred miles, ten solidi shall be given by said plaintiff to him who has been subjected to annoyance and trouble; and thus the number of solidi shall increase as aforesaid, in the ratio of five for every fifty miles, and ten for every hundred miles; the amount of pecuniary satisfaction being always proportionate to the length of the journey.

FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.

VIII. Where any one Residing in the District of one Judge has a Cause of Action against a Party Living in the District of another Judge.

If any freeman or slave has a cause of action against anyone residing outside of the province in which he lives, and within the jurisdiction of another judge, the judge of the district to which the plaintiff belongs shall send a letter under his signature and seal, to the other judge, and direct him to hear the cause of the complainant, without delay; and if he should neglect or deny this request, then the judge in whose district the plaintiff resides, shall seize as much of the property belonging to the judge to whom he sent the letter, as the sum amounts to, concerning which the plaintiff brought the suit; wherever he can find said property in his jurisdiction; which property, however, must not be delivered into the possession of the plaintiff. And he who receives it shall hold it, so that, when the case has been disposed of, the costs and expenses may be paid out of the income derived from the same. If the judge who, on the reception of the letter from the other judge, refused to hear the cause of the plaintiff, should afterwards conclude to do so, such property of his as was seized by the former judge, shall be restored to him without delay; but none of the amount which has been expended for reasonable costs shall be returned. And if, after the case has been decided according to the rules of justice, the judge shall be found to have lost anything by reason of the unjust demands of the plaintiff, then the latter shall make full restitution to the said judge, and shall be compelled to pay him in addition, an equal amount from his own property. And if that judge who was the cause of the delay, has no property, in the jurisdiction of the other judge who notified him, wherewith to reimburse the plaintiff, the latter judge may seize the property of the former, wherever he can find it, even when it is not in his jurisdiction; or he may deliver to the plaintiff a memorandum under his seal, in which the amount of the sum involved is set forth, by authority of which the plaintiff may have the power to seize said property.

If one whose property was illegally taken for a debt should complain of this to the king, the judge, or the governor; a judge convicted of unnecessary delay in hearing the case, shall pay all damages incurred, and four times their amount besides, out of his own purse. But if a creditor should privately accept from his debtor, a sum equal in value to the amount of property involved, the judge cannot be required to give satisfaction as above stated. If the judge who was notified should hear the cause of the plaintiff without delay, and should find that there is no justice in his claim, he must send a copy of the decree in writing, carefully made out, and signed with his hand and sealed with his seal, to the judge by whom he has been notified, as hereinbefore stated. And if, after the decision, the wrong-doing of him who made the claim should appear; if he is a freeman, he shall pay double the amount of the property involved, that is, a sum equal to what the other party lost, and as much more. Any slave who shall have been detected in the commission of such acts, shall receive one hundred lashes with the scourge; shall be scalped as a mark of infamy; and shall at once restore the entire amount of property which he had seized, as security.[9] And all concerned in the seizure, if they are slaves, and did so willingly, shall each receive a hundred lashes; but if they are freemen, they shall restore to the owner as much as they are proved to have taken from him, without the sum usually given as indemnity by him who has been convicted of having acted wrongfully in similar cases.

IX. Concerning Those who Venture to Defend the Suits of Others.

Whoever has recourse to a person of high rank or influence, that, through his aid in court, he may be able to oppress his adversary, shall lose his case, even though his cause be just; and as soon as the judge perceives that any powerful person is interfering in a case, he shall order him to desist. But if the said person should defy the judge, and, obstinately resisting, should refuse to leave the court, or to cease interfering with the proceedings, the judge shall have authority to fine him two pounds of gold, one of which shall be for his own benefit, and the other for the benefit of the party injured by the said powerful adversary, and the latter shall be violently thrown out of court. Any freeman or slave who refuses to desist from interference with the business of the court, after having been warned by the judge, shall receive fifty lashes with the scourge, in public.

FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.

X. No Freeman shall Refuse to Answer the Slave of another in Court.

In order that insolence may be the more easily punished, the law regards excuses as superfluous. Sometimes freemen do not hesitate to injure the slaves of others, and then refuse to answer the petition of a slave in court; declaring that they should not be compelled to answer any one from whom they cannot collect damages, if they should chance to be victorious. But lest, through this delay, the slave himself should unjustly suffer injury; though his master should be distant fifty miles, or any objection should be made by his master on account of his employment at the time; after due deliberation, we hereby decree that a hearing shall be denied to no one. If, however, a slave should assert that he has any claim of his own, or any business to transact in court on behalf of his master or mistress, he against whom he files a complaint, shall straightway be compelled to appear and answer; and, in the end, make such compensation as is authorized by law, if he be vanquished by the slave; but if the slave is unable to prove what he has adduced, then the freeman shall declare under oath that he has no knowledge of, nor has in his possession, the property to which claim is made; nor has done, nor has caused to be done, any of those things of which he is accused. And, after this oath has been taken, the slave or the freeman, as the case may be, must not delay to make amends for filing his unjust complaint. But if, in the settlement of these damages, where the claim is for a small amount, it should appear that his master is only worth ten solidi, the slave shall be compelled to pay only half the penalty, that is to say, two half solidi. But if it should appear that the master of the slave is distant less than fifty miles, his slave cannot bring an action against any freeman, unless the master is unable, in person, to be present in court; or should send a letter, written in his own hand, and signed with his signature, authorizing the slave to appear for him, by the latter as messenger to the judge.

If the slave, acting on behalf of his master, should cause him any injury, either through fraud or neglect, or should lose the case, it shall be lawful for the master to have it reviewed, either upon his own application, or upon that of a lawful representative, and have it justly decided by the testimony of such witnesses as he may be able to produce.