§ 8088. Judge Advocate General’s Corps: Office of the Judge Advocate General; Judge Advocate General; appointment, term, emoluments, duties

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(a)The Judge Advocate General’s Corps is a Staff Corps of the Navy, and shall be organized in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy.

(b)There is in the executive part of the Department of the Navy the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy. The Judge Advocate General shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four years. He shall be appointed from judge advocates of the Navy or the Marine Corps who are members of the bar of a Federal court or the highest court of a State and who have had at least eight years of experience in legal duties as commissioned officers.

(c)Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, in selecting an officer for recommendation to the President for appointment as the Judge Advocate General, shall ensure that the officer selected is recommended by a board of officers that, insofar as practicable, is subject to the procedures applicable to selection boards convened under chapter 36 of this title.

(d)The Judge Advocate General of the Navy, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, shall—

(1)perform duties relating to legal matters arising in the Department of the Navy as may be assigned to him;

(2)perform the functions and duties and exercise the powers prescribed for the Judge Advocate General in chapter 47 of this title;

(3)receive, revise, and have recorded the proceedings of boards for the examination of officers of the naval service for promotion and retirement; and

(4)perform such other duties as may be assigned to him.

(e)No officer or employee of the Department of Defense may interfere with—

(1)the ability of the Judge Advocate General to give independent legal advice to the Secretary of the Navy or the Chief of Naval Operations; or

(2)the ability of judge advocates of the Navy assigned or attached to, or performing duty with, military units to give independent legal advice to commanders.

(f)If the Judge Advocate General is removed from office before the end of the term of the Judge Advocate General as specified in subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense shall, not later than five days after the removal takes effect, submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives notice that the Judge Advocate General is being removed and a statement of the reason for the removal.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 289, § 5148; Pub. L. 87–649, § 14c(20), Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 501; Pub. L. 90–179, § 2(1), Dec. 8, 1967, 81 Stat. 546; Pub. L. 96–513, title III, § 343, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2901; Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title V, § 504(b)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2750; Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title V, § 574(b)(1), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 1922; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title V, § 508(b), title X, § 1057(a)(2), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3229, 3440; Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title V, § 543(b), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 115;

Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title V, § 502(ff), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2105; renumbered § 8088, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(a)(2), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834; Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title V, § 506(b), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 858.)

In subsection

(b)the rank, pay, allowances, and privileges of retirement of chiefs of bureaus of the Navy are incorporated. 5 U.S.C. 441 apparently relates the Judge Advocate General of the Navy to the Judge Advocate General of the Army, as well as to bureau chiefs. However, since the creation of the Department of the Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, if the incorporation to the Army provision is retained, the saving provisions in the act require an incorporation also to the rank, etc., of the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force. The rank of the Judge Advocate General of each of the other departments is now specified in organizational law to be major general. Since it is possible that these ranks may at some future time not be the same, incorporation by reference to them is no longer appropriate. Instead, the section relates the Judge Advocate General’s rank, pay, allowances, and privileges of retirement to those of bureau chiefs as does 5 U.S.C. 441, in part.

In subsection (c), clauses

(1)and

(4)are substituted for the words “and perform such other duties as have heretofore been performed by the Solicitor and Naval Judge Advocate General” to describe the duties of the Judge Advocate General directly instead of by reference to the duties performed by an officer whose office was abolished more than 75 years ago.

Subsection (c)(2) is substituted for the reference, in 5 U.S.C. 428, to courts-martial and courts of inquiry, since the Uniform Code of Military Justice has superseded prior law as to the duties of the Judge Advocates General relating to these courts.

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U.S. Code