We promulgate the present law in order that the integrity of judges may be made apparent, and that nothing contributed by litigants may effect evasion of the laws.

  Therefore We order that whenever actions or appeals are brought before any judges or other magistrates, the principal parties, or those to whom the prosecution of the suit has passed in the meantime, shall swear in the presence of the Holy Gospels and the judges that they have neither given nor promised anything to the latter or to anyone else, and that they will not do so, either in person or by the agency of anyone whomsoever, in order to obtain the favor of said judges; with the exception of the ordinary fees advanced by litigants to advocates to represent them, and to such other persons as Our laws authorize payment to be made. We decree that these rules shall be observed in Our Imperial Consistory, whenever consultations are applied for there, and that the above-mentioned oath shall be administered in the presence of the Senate. When (as sometimes happens) some of the litigants cannot appear in court, We order that those who do appear shall be sworn, and that some of the court officers shall then be dispatched to the absent litigants along with the adverse parties, in order that they may take the oath in their presence. But where one of them is a woman, and she, on account of her natural timidity, is not accustomed to appear before strange men, the officers sent by the magistrate shall take her oath without the adverse party being present. Where both parties, or either of them, happen to be in different places, We order that the one who is absent shall be publicly sworn, in the manner in which We have just mentioned, either before the judge of the province where he resides, or in the presence of the public defender. We desire that this present constitution shall be so strictly observed that, if one of the litigants, when either absent or present, should refuse to take the prescribed oath, and the judge is notified of the refusal, he shall be deprived of his right of action, if he is the plaintiff; and that judgment shall be rendered against him if he is the defendant.

  Where one of the litigants states that he has given or promised something to any person, and mentions his name, and proves what he alleges, he will deserve to be pardoned after the case has been decided; and when it is a pecuniary one, he who received the gift or accepted the promise shall be compelled by the Count of Private Affairs to pay three times the amount of what was given or agreed upon; and, in every instance, the official shall lose the dignity or public employment with which he is invested. Where the accusation is a criminal one, he who, by accepting a bribe, hastened to take upon himself the crime of another, shall be subjected to the confiscation of his own property, and be sent into exile. When, however, the litigant is unable to prove that anything was either given or promised, he who is said to have received the gift or accepted the promise must swear that he did not do so, either in person or by someone else, and this oath having been taken, he shall be discharged; and the litigant who was unable to establish his allegations shall, where the case involves the payment of money, be required by the Count of Private Affairs to pay the value of the property in litigation, after it has been appraised, and he must then abide the result of the trial. In criminal cases, he who is not able to prove his statements shall have his property confiscated, and the case shall be • decided by competent judges in accordance with law. When a litigant swears that he neither gave nor promised anything, and within ten months after the decision has been rendered it is ascertained that he did give something, the aforesaid penalty shall be imposed both upon the giver, and the receiver of the gift. In cases prosecuted by guardians or curators, they must be sworn; and where there is ground for the infliction of any of the penalties above mentioned, growing out of the oath aforesaid, the guardians or curators shall alone be liable to them, without the rights of those subject to their guardianship or curatorship being prejudiced in the slightest degree.

  We also order that throughout the entire extent of Our Empire, both military and civil magistrates shall take measures to prevent the executive officers of judges, prefects, and other magistrates from collecting, under the pretext of fees, anything whatsoever in excess of what is provided by Our laws; even though the said officers may rely upon an Imperial mandate issued by Us; and wherever they detect any officer in exacting more than he is entitled to, they are authorized to arrest and imprison him, and exact from him fourfold the amount of the excess which he received; so that when the simple loss is returned to the person who suffered it, three times that shall be paid into Our Treasury. Where a civil or military magistrate after having, in any instance, been applied to neglects (as We have already stated) to redress the wrong of the injured party, quadruple damages shall be collected from him in the manner aforesaid; and We order that this penalty shall be exacted by the Count of Our Private Affairs. And when competent judges fail to punish their executive officers, who extort anything by way of fees, in contravention of Our laws, after they have become aware of the fact, We permit those on whom the demand is made to give no more than what is prescribed by Our Constitution, and if the officers should attempt to collect anything in excess of this, the former are hereby authorized to resist them.

  As a law enacted by Our Father, of pious memory, as well as by Ourself, forbade ordinary judges to insert in their decisions anything whatsoever based on an Imperial order not committed to writing, and as this law also provided that the eminent referendaries must publish Our mandates in the proper manner, We hereby confirm it, and prohibit the said referendaries and their associates, whenever they take cognizance of cases within their jurisdiction, or when they submit any questions to Our Majesty, from detaining a litigant, either in his own person, or when he is represented by someone else, in order to make him agree to a contract to collect nothing under a bond, and compel him to compromise, or come to terms with his adversary; and, in conclusion, We forbid them to interfere in lawsuits of any description; for We, in every proceeding whatsoever, only authorize these officials to notify regular judges, or those who have been specially appointed by Our commands issued either in writing or verbally. If one of them should presume to violate the present law, the litigant who has sustained any loss, or who has been treated unjustly with reference to his property, shall suffer no infringement of his rights. The guilty official, however, shall be compelled by a competent judge to make good, out of his own estate, the loss sustained by the injured person, and he shall also be deprived of his office and his rank. We order that these rules shall be applicable not only to future cases, but also to such as have already been begun but have not yet been terminated.

  Therefore Your Eminence will see that this law, which shall always be observed, is brought to the knowledge of Our subjects by means of formal edicts published in the Royal City, in order that all persons may be informed of what We have decreed for their common benefit.