Tribunal Office

The Tribunal is the judicial office of the Archeparchy which deals with matters pertaining to Canon Law or Church legislation. Tribunal processes are governed by Canon Law. The Tribunal is obliged to uphold that law in protecting and promoting justice and ensuring the pastoral welfare of the faithful of the Archeparchy.

The Metropolitan Archbishop possesses the power to judge for the Archeparchy; however, most cases are handled by judges whom he appoints, led by a priest known as the Judicial Vicar.

Other officers of the Tribunal are: the Promoter of Justice, a Canon lawyer who represents the Archeparchy as the prosecutor in punitive cases and acts as an overseer for the faithful of the Archeparchy; the Defender of the Bond, a Canon lawyer whose job is to present arguments and evidence to the Tribunal concerning the validity of baptisms, marriages, ordinations, etc; Notaries swear in witnesses and record their testimonies in writing.

Canon Law

Canon is the Greek word for rule, norm, standard or measure.

Canon is another name for a law in the Code of Canon Law. (Adjective form is canonical.)

Canon Law is a code of ecclesiastical laws governing the Catholic Church. In the Latin or Western Church, the governing code is the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a revision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. A separate but parallel Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, issued in 1990, governs the Eastern Catholic churches. That document was the first comprehensive code of church law governing all Eastern Catholic churches.

Source: https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/