Office of the Judge Advocate General
From Star Trek: Gamma One
Based out of Starfleet Headquarters on Earth, the Office of the Judge Advocate General is responsible for oversight of legal matters involving Starfleet and its personnel. The majority of casework is handled by the judge advocates for individual ships, or by those assigned to a sector-level field office. These field offices are administered by and report to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, which generally only handles the most serious and far-reaching of legal matters concerning Starfleet as a whole.
Field JAG Officers
JAG officers assigned to a specific ship, posting, or region, or otherwise understood to be 'in the field', are primarily legal advisors. They advise on rules of engagement, assist when called upon to do so in the reviewing for legality of those treaties or intellience operations to which they have clearance, and otherwise serve as legal counselors to the senior staff. However, as they are representatives of the Judge Advocate General, they do hae some semi-independent authority to initiate and oversee investigations. This can best be summarized as follows:
The JAG shall have broad authority to investigate, or assume oversight of ongoing investigations, into violations of the General Orders, or crimes of mutiny which are believed to involve the Chief of Security of a vessel either as an active participant or as a 'tainted' bystander. The JAG will assume the Security Chief's role in the oversight of other investigations only when there is a statutory or otherwise adjudicated conflict of interest on the Security Chief's behalf, as determined by Senior Command of the posting in question; if the conflict is not clear on its face under existing statute, such as the Security Chief being the alleged perpetrator, an alleged indicted or unindicted co-conspirator, or the primary victim of the offense in question, then the conflict of interest must be adjudicated by Senior Command. In all other cases, the JAG remains an alternate overseer of serious investigations where directed formally to take up that role by the posting's Commanding Officer.
In effect, this creates three 'categories' of JAG investigations: serious crimes (General Orders violations, mutinies which are a conflict of interest in some way for the Security Chief) for which they do not require the active clearance of Senior Command to investigate, but which they would eventually need to notify Senior Command in order to make arrests or otherwise begin the disciplinary phase of the investigation; less serious crimes which involve the Security Chief in a formal or previously determined conflict of interest, in which case the verbal or written permission of the CO or XO of the posting can permit the investigation to begin and continue; and general crimes in which formal, written permission from the CO mandate that the JAG field officer take over the investigation.
Known Personnel
- No known personnel at this time
