tribunal

American  

[trahy-byoon-l, trih-] / traɪˈbjun l, trɪ- /

noun

tribunals plural

1. a court of justice.

2. a place or seat of judgment.

3. Also called tribune.  a raised platform for the seats of magistrates, as in an ancient Roman basilica.

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tribunal British  

/ trɪ-, traɪˈbjuːnəl /

noun

1. a court of justice or any place where justice is administered

2. (in Britain) a special court, convened by the government to inquire into a specific matter

3. a raised platform containing the seat of a judge or magistrate, originally that in a Roman basilica

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tribunals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tribunal

1520–30; < Latin tribūnal, tribūnāle judgment seat, equivalent to tribūn ( us ) tribune ¹ + -āl ( e ) -al ²

Explanation

A tribunal is like a court. If you've done something wrong and you get caught it's likely you'll be brought before a tribunal, although not all tribunals are there to determine guilt. Say, for example, you'd like to join a secret society. That society might convene a tribunal to determine whether you're worthy of joining. One way to remember tribunal is to focus on the tri at the beginning of the word. A tribunal is there to "try" a case. A tribunal is a group of people who oversee a trial. Your mom and dad could be a tribunal. You could also think of it as the group who oversees their tribe, which is, in fact, where the word comes from.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tribunal tribunals

Taking one of the UK's biggest grocery chains to an employment tribunal was something that Ryan Toghill says almost took over his life.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

He'd been described by a manager as showing "a lack of remorse," something the tribunal found was clearly linked with his communication differences associated with having ADHD.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

In one tribunal last year, the pub chain Greene King was found to have failed to make reasonable adjustments for a chef who was dyslexic and struggled with reading orders.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The entire process, however, goes beyond the fate of a single prosecutor and could reshape the world's only permanent war‑crimes tribunal.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

On November 13, 2001, President Bush issued an order to set up a military tribunal system to try the men accused of helping the hijackers.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Not only could this backlog create problems in terms of access to justice, but according to Kirby, rising numbers of tribunals could have another troubling effect.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

But, they’re committed on the high seas, so to the extent there’s jurisdiction at all, this falls under the authority of federal district court or federal military tribunals.

From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026

The money will come from £2.7bn of government funding for courts and tribunals for this financial year, an increase from £2.5bn during the previous 12 months.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

The program also includes legal benefits, including the ability to arbitrate disputes abroad at independent tribunals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

Thus the spiritual tribunals rapidly came to employ inquisitorial methods.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles

Related Words

• board
• committee
• judge
• justice