Any one convicted of having induced another to give false testimony against a freeman, shall pay the same amount to him whom he attempted to injure by that false testimony, as the latter could have justly obtained by a judgment in court. But if a witness, asked by another to testify, is known to have given false testimony against a freeman or a liberated slave, and the latter has been reduced to servitude by his evidence, and he who introduced the witness shall not have been convicted of the fraud; the witness himself is to be subjected to the penalty hereinbefore stated; that is, he shall be liable to him whom he wished to injure by his testimony, for the full sum involved in the suit. And if he should not have the means to make amends, he shall be delivered over, with all his property, to the party he attempted to defraud, to forever serve him as a slave. We hereby decree that the same penalty shall be inflicted upon those who have been convicted of giving false testimony in order to liberate the slaves of others; or who, by their schemes, have manifested an intention to deprive freemen of their liberty. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =IX. In what Causes Slaves can Testify.= What relates to the general benefit of the public must not be neglected in our decrees, nor shall the facility for committing crime be such, that any person may think that he is exempt from the operation of the law. Since, therefore, when an affray takes place among freemen whereby death results, and no freeman is present who can give evidence of the crime, slaves may testify; so that it may be ascertained from their evidence how the homicide was committed. But for the reason that, under other circumstances, the course of justice would be obstructed; as, for instance, when the accused freeman shall be some distance away, or, if at hand, should not be recognized; therefore slaves shall be permitted to testify when no freemen were present, or those who were there are implicated in the affair in question. But slaves shall not be allowed to give testimony in other cases, nor in matters of great importance, but only in such as are comparatively insignificant; as those involving the title to lands, vineyards, or buildings, which are of lesser moment, and concerning which disputes often arise between heirs or neighbors. A slave shall also be believed in matters in which he is personally interested; as, for instance, if he should be seized by others, or be illegally detained by them, and also where another slave has escaped; on his statement, when true, the former may be returned to his master; and by reliable information imparted by a slave, any dispute which has arisen on account of the ownership of another, may be ended. Nevertheless, slaves shall be considered unworthy of credit, unless they are known to be innocent of all crime, and are not grievously oppressed by poverty; and their testimony can, under no