That people who approach the metropolitan bishop to lay forth their affairs shall not be excommunicated by their own bishop.

 

If a cleric or a monk, having a case against his own bishop, approaches his metropolitan bishop to make a plea, he shall not be condemned with the sentence of excommunication by his own bishop before it can be known by the judgment of the metropolitan whether he deserves to be excommunicated. If a bishop excommunicates such persons before the judgement, those bound [by this sentence] will be completely absolved, and the bishop will find himself struck by his own sentence. The same thing should be observed among the metropolitan bishops when one is oppressed by his own metropolitan bishop and complains about his distress to the metropolitan bishop of another province, or having been unheard by two metropolitan bishops he approaches the king to make his complaint, and for this reason his bishop bounds him with the yoke of excommunication. It shall be, however, observed that if someone has been already excommunicated, he shall go from his bishop to another, and shall remain excommunicated [in the diocese] of the bishop whose judgment he requests until it is decided whether the arguments of the excommunicator have been just or not.

 

(trans. M. Szada)