The Tribunal of the Roman Rota (formerly Sacra Rota), which has its historic seat in Rome in the fifteenth-century Palazzo della Cancelleria, is essentially an appeals tribunal which judges: a) in the second instance, the cases settled by the ordinary courts of first instance and referred to the Holy See by legitimate appeal; b) in the third and further instance, cases already judged by the Roman Rota itself and by any other ecclesiastical tribunal, unless the matter has become final (can. 1444 § 1, nn. 1-2).

The Roman Rota also judges in the first instance cases expressly reserved to it (can. 1405 § 3) and those which the Roman Pontiff, either on his own initiative or at the request of the parties, has summoned from his tribunal and entrusted to the Roman Rota (can. 1444 § 2).

Finally, it is the court of appeal for the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Vatican City.

At the Roman Rota, only Rotal Lawyers can sponsor: those who have obtained the specific title after completing the three-year course at the Studium Rotale and the final exam.