If no one should be willing to accuse another of homicide, the judge, as soon as he learns that the crime has been committed, shall have the power to apprehend the guilty party, that he may receive the sentence he deserves; for the punishment of the crime may be unduly deferred, either on account of the absence of the accuser, or because some collusion exists between him and the murderer. A wife shall have the right to inquire into the death of her husband, or into any injury he has suffered at the hands of another; and a husband has, likewise, the same privilege in the case of a wife, and may demand that the crime be avenged by law. If either husband or wife should die while they had the intention of prosecuting a criminal, and, in consequence thereof, said prosecution should be left incomplete, their children or relatives, who stand next in the line of hereditary succession, shall have full power to accuse the offender, or the homicide, and to carry on the prosecution just as parents can do. The children or aforesaid relatives, shall not be entitled to the property of the offender or homicide, unless he should have previously undergone the punishment prescribed by law for his crime. If the judge, after having been notified, should refuse to avenge the crime, and, by reason of his delay or neglect, the matter should finally be brought to the attention of the king, the judge shall be compelled to give half of the legal composition for the homicide; that is to say, two hundred and fifty _solidi_, as a penalty for his disregard of his judicial duties. No one shall have a right to claim the property of anyone who is punished for a crime, before the sentence prescribed by law for said crime has been pronounced by the court. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =XV. Both Relatives and Strangers have a Right to Accuse a Person of Homicide.= As it is proper that those who are guilty of other crimes should receive the penalties which they deserve, it must be regarded as infamous that homicides, whom it is but right should be treated with greater severity, should escape without punishment. Therefore, that no one who has committed a homicide may escape, or think that, by making excuses, he can avoid the consequences of his crime; the right of prosecution is hereby given, in the first place, to the relatives of the deceased; and if said relatives should be either lukewarm, or dilatory in inquiring into the death of their relative, then other relatives, as well as strangers, shall have the right to prosecute the offender. Any person who fraudulently attempts to defend or excuse a homicide, shall be compelled to pay to the accuser, double the amount which he has corruptly received. For no one guilty of homicide can ever feel secure, so long as he knows that everyone has the right to prosecute him. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =XVI. Where a Homicide Takes Refuge in a Church.=