In order that he may be perfectly familiar with a case the judge should first interrogate the witnesses; then he should examine the documents, if any there be; and, that the truth may the more certainly be determined, the oaths of the parties should finally be taken with all due reverence. The true investigation of justice demands that written instruments should take precedence over everything else; and that necessity alone justifies the administering of oaths to the parties. But in those cases where there is no documentary evidence, or other proof, or where the judge shall not be able to decide without it, the parties to the suit shall be sworn. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =XXII. Where the Integrity of a Judge is said to be Suspected by Any One of Honorable Rank, or where a Judge presumes to render a Decision Contrary to Law.= If any one should declare that he suspects the integrity of either a judge, a governor, a vice-governor, or any other official, and demands access to his superior, or shall even allege that he has suspicions of that superior himself, he shall not be subject to delay on this account, especially if he should be poor. But those who decide the case shall do so with the bishop of the diocese, and their opinions and judgment shall be reduced to writing, and be signed by them; and he who has declared that he suspected the judge, should he desire to bring a suit against him, after judgment has been rendered in the case in question, shall have the right to summon that judge to appear before the king. And if a judge or an ecclesiastic should be convicted of having decided wrongfully in any cause, the property of which the complainant has been deprived shall be restored to him, and an equal quantity of property shall be given him by way of satisfaction, by those who are proved to have rendered an unrighteous judgment. And if anyone should lodge an unjust complaint against a judge, and it should appear that the cause in question has been properly decided, the accuser shall undergo the same penalty which the judge would have suffered. And if he should not have the property wherewith to make amends, after having been exposed in public he shall receive thirty lashes in the presence of the judge himself. If anyone, however, should allege that he possesses information which relates to the interests of the Crown, access to our presence shall not be denied him. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =XXIII. How a Judge should render Judgment.=