The Historical Development of the Book of Church Order

Chapter 43 : Complaints

Paragraph 6 : Of Timely Filing

43-6. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the lower court to file with the clerk of the higher court, not more than thirty (30) days after receipt of notice of complaint, a copy of all its proceedings in connection with the complaint including the notice of complaint and supporting reasons, the response of the lower court, if any, and any papers bearing on the complaint. If the clerk of the lower court shall neglect to send up the proceedings on the complaint, he shall receive a proper rebuke from the higher court, and the act or decision complained against shall be suspended until the proceedings are produced so that the higher court can fairly consider the complaint.

DIGEST :
BCO 43-6 was a new paragraph added by amendment in 1984 [M14GA, 12-14, Item 5m, p. 90]. We do note one small difference in the printing of the Minutes of 1984, where the paragraph read, "a copy of all the proceedings" instead of the wording shown above, "a copy of all its proceedings".

BACKGROUND AND COMPARISON :
No comparable paragraph is found in the following editions:
PCA 1973, RoD, Chapter 17, Adopted text
Continuing Presbyterian Church 1973, RoD, Chapter 17, Proposed text
PCUS 1933
PCUS 1925
PCUS 1879

PCUS 1869 draft
PCUS 1867 draft

COMMENTARY :

F.P. Ramsay, Exposition of the Book of Church Order (1898) :
[no comparable text for discussion]