The General Assembly accept the following statement of principle in regard to disciplining procedures.
“It should be recognised that Church discipline is not of precisely the same order as civil, and the Church cannot therefore divest itself of the responsibility of ascertaining facts and their relevance. No proceedings or judgement of a civil (or criminal) court can be regarded as a substitute for due ecclesiastical process though such judgements may help in determining whether a process is required. Church courts must form their own judgements independently of, proceedings in other courts”.