The judge advocate general of the Canadian Forces (JAG; ) is the senior legal officer who superintends the administration of military justice in the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

, and provides legal advice on military matters to the

governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, the minister of national defence, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. The office is defined in section 9 of the ''

National Defence Act The ''National Defence Act'' (NDA; ; ''LDN'') is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, which is the primary enabling legislation for organizing and funding the military of Canada. The Act created the Department of National Defence, which merged th ...

''. The 15th and current judge advocate general is Rear Admiral Geneviève Bernatchez, since June 28, 2017.

Office of the Judge Advocate General

The office consists of 159

regular force In the Canadian Armed Forces, a Regular Force unit or person is part of the full-time military, as opposed to being part of the Primary Reserve which has more flexibility. There are many bases and wings across Canada, and factors like trade, career ...

legal officer positions and 64

reserve force A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

legal officer positions. Regular force legal officers are deployed as follows: *

National Defence Headquarters National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence (DN ...

in Ottawa * Eight Assistant Judge Advocate General (AJAG) offices: Esquimault, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, NORAD HQ (USA), and Germany. * Ten Deputy Judge Advocate (DJA) offices across Canada * Four Regional Military Prosecutor (RMP) offices across Canada *

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

in Belgium * Canadian Forces Military Law Centre at the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

(RMC) in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

* JAG Legal Center and School (U.S. Army), Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A. * Deputy Commander-in-Chief

North American Aerospace Defence Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

Headquarters (in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, United States) * with CF contingents deployed overseas — during 2009–2010, at locations in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

; * in training with CF formations and units participating in major national and international exercises.

List of judge advocates general

# Major-General Henry Smith, 1911-1918 # Lieutenant-Colonel

Oliver Mowat Biggar Oliver Mowat Biggar, (October 11, 1876 – September 4, 1948) was a Canadian lawyer and civil servant. He was the second judge advocate general for the Canadian Militia and the first chief electoral officer of Canada. He also served as the firs ...

, 1918-1920 # Brigadier Reginald John Orde, 1920-1950 # Brigadier-General William J. Lawson, 1950-1969 # Brigadier-General Harold A. McLearn, 1969-1972 # Brigadier-General James M. Simpson, 1972-1976 # Major-General John Patterson Wolfe, 1976-1982 # Brigadier-General Frank Karwandy, 1982-1986 # Brigadier-General Robert L. Martin, 1986-1990 # Commodore Peter R. Partner, 1990-1993 # Brigadier-General Pierre G. Boutet, 1993-1998 # Major-General Jerry S.T. Pitzul, 1998-2006 # Brigadier-General

Ken Watkin Brigadier General Kenneth "Ken" Watkin, (born 1954) is a Canadian lawyer, soldier and jurist. Watkin was Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Canadian Forces from 2006 to 2010. He is an expert on military law. He was promoted to brigadier genera ...

, 2006-2010 # Major-General B. Blaise Cathcart, 2010-2017 # Rear-Admiral Geneviève Bernatchez, 2017-

References

External links

Judge Advocate General of the Canadian Armed Forces
{{Canadian Armed Forces Canadian Armed Forces Legal history of Canada Legal occupations in the military

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Office of the Judge Advocate General

List of judge advocates general

See also

References

External links