Judge Advocate General's Corps Detachment
All starbases and some major starships have a detachment of the Starfleet Judge Advocate General's Corps present to advise their commanding officers and shipmates on legal matters, facilitate any necessary legal proceedings, and, if necessary, serve in a prosecutorial capacity in investigations against members of Starfleet. While members of the crew, JAG personnel also have their own lines of reporting to the JAG Corps.
Duties
The Starfleet Uniform Code of Justice, Federation Law, and Interstellar Law are all extremely complex, which is why the JAG Corps exists in the first place: to advise Starfleet officers in legal matters and, when necessary, to enforce the law. Judge-Advocates function as counselors, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges, depending on the situation. They are especially useful in situations where complex legal networks must be navigated, such as when a starship must interact with the laws and customs of a new planet for the first time.
- Document and interpret the legal systems of newly encountered governments, to help build a larger understanding of interstellar jurisprudence.
- Advise a unit's commanding officer on legal issues ranging from personnel issues, the impact of interstellar or other foreign law on the unit's mission, and when a general court-martial must be called.
- Advise fellow crewmembers on legal issues ranging from civil and family law, to the UCJ and events such as separation from Starfleet, disciplinary proceedings, or other such matters.
- Support the proceedings of any courts-martial, as counselors for the prosecution and/or defense, and as advisor to the convening authority (generally a flag-grade officer).
- A general court-martial (i.e. a full trial with a jury) would need to be convened by a flag officer and include a jury of command-grade officers, advised by the JAG Corps. If only one JAG officer is available, they would serve as the prosecutor. If a second is available, they would serve as defense counsel. Otherwise, the unit's XO must serve as prosecutor and the unit's CO must serve as defense counsel.
- A special court-martial (without a jury) can be convened by a command-grade officer (i.e. a starship captain) if a defendant waives their rights to a jury trial. Counsel arrangements would be as in a general court-martial.
- When jurisdiction allows, independently hold and adjudicate hearings and courts-martial.
- Sector Judge-Advocates are empowered to convene and rule on administrative hearings.
Shipboard Positions
Staff Judge-Advocate
Staff Judge-Advocates (SJA) are found aboard the largest starships and starbases of any size. They serve to advise their commanding officer on legal matters, which is critical given how complex interstellar law is, as well as providing legal advice to their shipmates. They prosecute any cases as needed for general courts-martial, while the commanding officer (if they are of sufficient rank) would serve as the judge. SJAs range in rank from lieutenant junior grade (the minimum rank to be qualified as a JAG officer and at which Starfleet Legal Academy graduates start) to commander, depending on their experience levels. More senior officers are typically assigned to larger commands. A starship would be unlikely to have more than two SJAs, while a starbase might have a dozen or more.
Paralegal Specialist
Paralegal specialists are enlisted members of Starfleet trained in legal research, document preparation, and other ways of assisting JAG officers. They go through substantial training to be able to be as effective as possible. This is a related career track to being a yeoman, and there is cross-over between these two career paths. A starship with a Staff Judge-Advocate would have one to two paralegal specialists, while a starbase with a sector-level JAG office might have several dozen.
Starbase and Flagship Positions
Command Judge-Advocate
A Command Judge-Advocate serves a similar function to a Staff Judge-Advocate, but for a command larger than a single starship or station, advising the officer in command. Their ranks depend on the rank of the officer they are advisor, ranging from a lieutenant or lieutenant commander serving under a fleet captain or commodore, all the way up to a rear admiral or vice admiral serving as command judge-advocate for a numbered fleet.
Sector Judge-Advocate
A Sector Judge-Advocate is the senior legal official for a given area of space, generally stationed on that sector's command starbase. They are very senior JAG officers with wide-ranging authority in their area, both advising the flag officer in command of the sector and trying cases at their own discretion, as necessary. While Staff and Command Judge-Advocates do not themselves serve as judges but advise the relevant flag officer to do so, Sector Judge-Advocates have the power sit over courts-martials for lesser offenses and to hold administrative hearings themselves. They report directly to the Judge-Advocate General's Office, and typically hold the rank of Captain to Rear Admiral.
JAG Corps Detachments In-Play
- On screen, we have seen many facets of real-world Judge-Advocates replicated in the practice of Starfleet JAG officers, namely that JAG officers serve in both legal and judicial roles, while non-JAG flag officers serve as judges in disciplinary and criminal cases. Senior JAG officers are able to make rulings in administrative matters themselves.
- In TOS, Commodore Stone serves as the judge along with a panel of command officers to try the criminal case of Captain Kirk, while the JAG officer serves as prosecutor.
- On TNG, Captain Louvois serves as judge in an administrative hearing to determine whether or not Data is sentient, a decision she seems to have the final say on herself.
- On DS9, several flag officers (including the Starfleet JAG himself) made summary rulings on various legal matters.
- As seen by neither the original Enterprise nor the Enterprise-D having their own JAG officers aboard, most starships would not carry a JAG Corps Detachment unless they are a flagship or a very large ship sent on a long-distance mission, where her captain might need such legal counsel out of contact from command.
- Most minor stations would have at least a token JAG presence, reporting to the sector command starbase's JAG office, which would be fully-staffed.
- Why would you want a JAG officer on your station or base? The main story reason would be to conduct a court-martial. Another reason would be to help a captain navigate a tricky area of interstellar law, such as in a complex trade negotiation, getting access to an archaeological site, or intervening when a crewmember breaks local laws.