If any one, after having been warned by the judge, should refuse to testify concerning any matter within his knowledge; and should either say that he does not know the facts, and hesitates to take the oath, or should suppress the truth through favor to any one, or through bribery; if he is a person of noble rank, he shall not be permitted to give testimony afterwards in any cause in court, nor shall his testimony be taken in any proceeding whatever. But if he who refuses to testify, should be an ordinary citizen, or a person of inferior rank, he shall be considered infamous, and shall receive a hundred lashes; because it is no less criminal to suppress the truth, than to commit perjury.
FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
III. Where a Witness Testifies Orally, and Written Evidence Contradicts Him.
Whenever a witness testifies to something contrary to what is contained in any document, which he is known to have signed, although he may directly contradict the text of the document, the latter shall be preferred as evidence. But if witnesses should testify that the document offered is not valid, he who introduced it must confirm it by the testimony of witnesses; and if he cannot prove it by them, and by the production of other documents, the judge must require the witness who denies that it is in his hand, to write a similar document, in order that the truth may be the more readily established. And the judge shall make every effort to find other documents which may be compared with the one in question. And if all these efforts should fail, he shall not delay to make the witness swear that he had never signed the document; and if, afterwards, in any way it should become evident, that the latter had lied for the purpose of suppressing the truth, he shall be branded with the mark of infamy; and, if he is a person of high position, he shall be compelled to pay, by way of satisfaction, to the person affected by his false testimony, double the sum which the latter would have lost.[11] But if he is a person of inferior rank, and has not sufficient property wherewith to make amends, he shall never again be allowed to testify, and shall receive a hundred lashes with the scourge.
In regard to the two credible witnesses, whose evidence the authority of a former law declared should be received as sufficient; it must be required, not only that they should be reputable, that is, unquestionably freemen, but also of honorable rank and possessed of property. For care must be taken lest any one oppressed by poverty, and unable to bear his privations, should, without due reflection, perjure himself.
FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
IV. A Slave shall not be Believed unless He Belongs to the Crown; and When Royal Slaves shall be Believed.
A slave is not to be believed at all if he should try to prove any one else guilty of crime, or if he should endeavor to implicate his master in any offence. And even if he should be subjected to torture, and should confess what he has done, still he must not be believed; an exception, however, being made in the case of such slaves as have been transferred to the royal service, and are deservedly honored with the offices of the palace; that is to say, the chiefs of the grooms, of the fowlers, of the silversmiths, and of the cooks; or any besides these who are superior to them in rank or position. Moreover, to any slaves who are well and favorably known to the king, and who have never been guilty of depravity or crime, permission is granted by the law to testify, as well as to persons who are freeborn. But it must not be thought that other slaves in the royal service can be called as witnesses, for no credit shall attach to any of them, unless the king should especially authorize their testimony to be taken.[12]
FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
V. A Witness shall not give His Testimony in Writing, but Orally; and How Testimony should be Given.