Canon 70
On a petition to the emperors to return to church courts the right to resolve issues of private law between Christians, so that the decisions of these courts are considered final.
We should also ask the emperors to deign to make a ruling that if anyone, according to the apostolic right belonging to the Churches, wants to litigate some case in the Church, and one of the parties, perhaps, does not like the decision of the clergy, in such a case, let it not be allowed to summon to the court to give testimony the clergy who tried the same case before or was present at its trial, and let them not be obliged to give testimony of someone who is related to a church person.
Greek original
Δεῖ αἰτῆσαι ἔτι μήν, ἵνα ὁρίσαι καταξιώσωσιν, ὥστε, ἐάν τινες ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ οἱανδήποτε αἰτίαν ἀποστολικῷ δικαίῳ τῷ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐπικειμένῳ, γυμνᾶσαι θελήσωσι, καὶ ἴσως ἡ τομὴ τῶν κληρικῶν τῷ ἐνὶ μέρει ἀπαρέσοι, μὴ ἐξεῖναι πρὸς δικαστήριον εἰς μαρτυρίαν προκαλεῖσθαι τὸν κληρικὸν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν πρότερον τὸ αὐτὸ πρᾶγμα σκοπήσαντα, ἢ καὶ σκοπουμένῳ παρατυχόντα· καὶ ἵνα μηδὲ προσώπῳ τις προσήκων ἐκκλησιαστικῷ ἐναχθῇ περὶ τοῦ ὀφείλειν μαρτυρεῖν.[1]
Parallel canons
Ап.7475IVВс.9Карф.131