The Judge Advocate General (often shortened to JAG) was the head of Judge Advocate General's Office who advised Starfleet Command on and administered courts martial, as well as overseeing other Starfleet legal matters and personnel. Legal counsel within Starfleet reported to the Judge Advocate General.
In 2259, the position of Judge Advocate General was held by Admiral Javas. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera")
As Starfleet's Judge Advocate General in 2373, Rear Admiral Bennett ruled on Richard Bashir's criminal actions when he pleaded guilty to the resequencing of his son Julian's DNA. (DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume")
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When asked why Richard Bashir, a civilian, was prosecuted by Starfleet, Ronald D. Moore commented, "The Trek universe has established certain things and one of them is a legal system that is clearly different from our own in many ways. Having Picard represent Data in a hearing where he has a personal history with the presiding judge and where his own first officer is the adversarial counsel doesn't make a lot of sense to me either, but 'Measure of a Man' is still one of the very best TNG episodes... In 'Dr. Bashir' I had the JAG deal with the plea bargain because we've never seen any form of judicial forum in the UFP that isn't Starfleet related... Trek has said time and again that Starfleet is more than just a military entity and seems to have police and/or judicial functions, so the involvement of the JAG seemed plausible." (AOL chat, 1997)
External links[]
- Judge Advocate General at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Judge Advocate General at Wikipedia