Where an individual has been guilty of offences against many persons, or owes debts to different creditors, he who first establishes his claim either in writing, or by oral testimony, or by the acknowledgment of the party himself, and has thereby shown that he is liable to him for damages, or is indebted to him for money loaned, shall have the preference; and said person shall be required to satisfy the claim, regardless of its priority in time; or shall be sentenced by the judge for the offence he has committed against the law. Where several parties to whom he is indebted, should proceed against him at one and the same time, he shall satisfy his obligations to such persons according to the value of their claims; or, should he prove insolvent, he shall serve all of them as a slave. But in the settlement of the claims, it must be taken into consideration by the judge, that the largest creditor is entitled to the greater portion of the property, and that the remainder should be divided among the other creditors as the judge himself may determine. If the debtor should not have property sufficient to discharge his obligations, as soon as this fact has been established the debtor shall be given up by the judge to his creditors, to serve them, for all time, as a slave. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =VI. In what way the Debt of a Person who is Dead, or any Injury he has Committed, shall be Inquired Into.= If the guilt of any person has not been established during his lifetime, it is undoubtedly monstrous to accuse him of crime after his death. Where anyone, hereafter attempts to commit such acts, in order to defraud the heir of a person who is dead, he shall be restrained by the following law, to wit: that if any person shall accuse one who is dead of having been guilty of violence toward himself, or of having fraudulently deprived him of his property, or of having destroyed it, or of having owed him money, or of having perpetrated any unlawful act, as provided for in a former law, no credit shall attach to his assertions, unless he shall be able to indubitably establish their truth by competent written or oral evidence. And if he should be able to prove his allegations, and the deceased person concerned should have left no children, but should have bequeathed his property to freedmen, or to other persons, the said persons shall be forced, under the instructions of the judge, to pay, in proportion to the property they have received, the amount due the creditor of the deceased. And if the latter should have left children, and they should have possession of his property, they shall be required to settle all claims which the creditor has proved to be due him from their father. If the aforesaid debtor should have died without making any disposition of his estate, his nearest relatives, or those who claim, or are in possession of, said estate, shall be liable for his pecuniary obligations. But if he