The Scottish Catholic Interdiocesan Tribunal

The Scottish Catholic Interdiocesan Tribunal is the judicial body for the eight dioceses of the Catholic Church in Scotland. We work on behalf of the bishops to judge the cases that are brought before us – principally marriage nullity cases – and so to be of service to the Catholics of Scotland.

In choosing our staff the bishops try to ensure that we are representative of the Scottish Church – we are priests, deacons, and lay people, men and women, married and single, and we come from all eight Scottish dioceses so we have some understanding of the different social and cultural traditions of the different parts of our country.

In accordance with the requirements of the Church some of our staff have academic qualifications – doctorates or licences – in canon law, and the others have all undergone intensive in-house training, and most of our staff also have years of experience in Tribunal ministry giving them a genuine expertise in the field.

The principal judges of any Catholic tribunal are the local bishops, but since they have so many other responsibilities the day-to-day management is delegated to the Judicial Vicar (also known as the Officialis), under the oversight of the Bishop-Moderator. 

You can learn more about our history on this page, and more about Catholic tribunals in general on this page. You can find out about our funding here.

Bishop-Moderator: Most Reverend Leo Cushley, Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh

Judicial Vicar (or Officialis): Very Rev. Paul Canon Gargaro PhB STB JCL

Assistant Judicial Vicars: Rev. Brian McLean PhB STB JCL, Rev. Kenneth O'Brien JCL

Judges: Rev. Joseph Burke JCL, Mgr. Philip Kerr, Canon Gerard Tartaglia JCL, Dr Valerie Fleming JCD, Mr Thomas Docherty JCL

Defenders of the Bond: Rev. Matthew Carlin JCL, Canon John A. McGee

Promoter of Justice: Mgr Gerard Gallagher JCL

Instructors: Rev. Kenneth Campbell, Deacon Ronald MacAuley, Rev. Paul Milarvie, Rev. Dominic Quinn.

Advocates/Procurators accredited to the Tribunal: Mr. Thomas Docherty JCL, Dr Valerie Fleming JCD, Ms. Marie Macdonald, Mrs. Mary Quinn, Mrs. Lesley Ward.

Tribunal Assistants: Mrs Margaret O’Neill, Mrs Rowena Hutton