Criminal brutal in court (8)
I believe the answer is:
tribunal
'court' is the definition.
('tribunal' can be a synonym of 'court')
'criminal brutal in' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates an anagram.
'brutal'+'in'='brutalin'
'brutalin' anagrammed gives 'TRIBUNAL'.
(Other definitions for tribunal that I've seen before include "A panel of judges" , "examination" , "Assembly to conduct judicial business" , "Judgement seat" , "Court appointed to look into a particular matter" .)