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.