JUDGE ADVOCATE
A legal adviser on the staff of a military command.
A designated officer of the Judge Advocate Gen-
eral’s Corps (JAGC) of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air
Force, or Marine Corps.
The JAGC was created by GEORGE WASHING-
TON on July 29, 1775, only 44 days after he took
command of the Continental army. Since that
time the U.S. Army’s JAGC has grown into the
largest government “law firm,” numbering 1,500
judge advocates on active duty.
Judge advocates are attorneys who perform
legal duties while serving in the U.S. Armed
Forces. They provide legal services to their
branch of the armed forces and LEGAL REPRE-
SENTATION to members of the ARMED SERVICES.
In addition, judge advocates practice interna-
tional, labor, contract, environmental, TORT,
and ADMINISTRATIVE LAW. They practice in
military, state, and federal courts. A judge advo-
cate attorney does not need to be licensed to
practice law in the state in which he or she prac-
tices because they are part of a separate,military
system of justice.
Under the UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY
JUSTICE, judge advocates are the central partici-
pants in a military COURT-MARTIAL (military
criminal trial). A judge advocate administers
the oath to other members of the court, advises
the court, and acts either as a prosecutor or as
a defense counsel for the accused. A judge advo-
cate acting as defense counsel advises the mili-
tary prisoner on legal matters, protects the
accused from making incriminating statements,
and objects to irrelevant or improper questions
asked at the military proceeding. All sentences
with a penalty of dismissal, punitive discharge,
confinement for a year or more, or death are sub-
ject to review by a court of military review in the
office of the judge advocate general of the U.S.
Army, Navy, or Air Force, depending on the
branch of service to which the defendant
belongs.A sentence imposed on a member of the
Marine Corps would be reviewed by the office of
the judge advocate general of the U.S. Navy.
A judge advocate is admitted to the armed
services as an officer. Because the Uniform Code
of Military Justice is different from civilian law
in many respects, a judge advocate undergoes an
orientation and then education in MILITARY
LAW. The U.S. Army’s JAGC school, for example,
at Charlottesville, Virginia, provides a ten-week
academic course for new JAGC officers to learn
about the mission of the corps and to receive an
overview of military law.
Each branch of the armed forces has a judge
advocate general, an officer who is in charge of
all judge advocates and who is responsible for all
legal matters affecting that branch of the service.
In the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, the judge
advocate general holds the rank of major general.
In the U.S.Navy this officer is a rear admiral. The
judge advocate general serves as a legal adviser to
the chief of staff of their service and, in some
cases, to the secretary of the department.
The public has been given a look at judge
advocates through film and television. For exam-
ple, the movie A Few Good Men (1992) and the
television drama JAG both portray judge advo-
cates as prosecutors for military crimes.However,
the duties of a judge advocate extend far beyond
the military courtroom. Over the past three
decades, judge advocates have played a key role in
the planning of military strategy for top-secret
missions and other wartime issues. Further, judge
advocates, along with commanding officers of the
armed services, take part in the development and
application of rules of engagement, which guide
U.S. troops in their use of force.
One of the most important rules that involve
judge advocates is target planning.When decid-
ing whether something is a proper target, a
judge advocate must first determine that it is a
military necessity for the enemy. If it passes the
first test, they must investigate whether civilians
will be affected. Finally, they must perform a
BALANCING test. The possible loss of civilians
and their property—often referred to as “collat-
eral damage”—cannot be excessive, as compared
to the military gain achieved by the attacks.
Judge advocates also identify targets that are off-
limits. In these wartime contexts, target selec-
tion clearly becomes a life-or-death decision.
During the VIETNAM WAR, only one judge
advocate was called upon by the U.S. Air Force
to give operations law advice. Major Walter
Reed, who would later become judge advocate
general of the U.S. Air Force, advised which tar-
gets were restricted by the military’s rules of
engagement and the Law of War, the codified
laws created by the Hague Convention in 1907,
to which most nations adhere. However, in
