Is a Civil Lawsuit against a Tribunal a Possibility?

SOS has been an organization working with Respondents for over fifteen years. During that time the possibility of a civil lawsuit against various (lay) members of a tribunal has been discussed in our Board meetings.

SOS has documented cases where Respondents have come to us with situations where tribunals have obtained improperly gained psychological records. Tribunals have taken confidential therapist’s records, handed to them by the Petitioner, and used them against the Respondent.

Other cases where we have evidence include nearly unimaginable intimidation and humiliations of Respondents by local tribunals. Respondents caring for a child dying of cancer have been mandated to finish their Questionnaire material within a short space of time or suffer the loss of validity of their marriage sacrament.
Several Respondents have learned they had cancer DURING the annulment process, and the local tribunal made no change or exception in their timeline policies.

We have material related to the interference by a tribunal in a civil law case.

And we have statements written by canon lawyers with a conscience, who indicate that this kind of immoral behavior by tribunal personnel are making the Church tribunals vulnerable to threat of civil lawsuits.

If you have had a negative experience from a tribunal’s immoral behavior, we would welcome hearing from you.

If you are a lawyer or know one, with an interest in pursuing this topic, we would welcome hearing from you.