Army Legal Services Branch
Encyclopedia
The Army Legal Services Branch (ALS) is a branch of the Adjutant-General's Corps (AGC) in the British Army
. Before 1992, the branch existed as the independent Army Legal Corps (ALC).
The ALS consists only of commissioned officers (currently about 120), all of them either qualified solicitor
s, barrister
s or advocate
s. The head of the corps is known as the Director General of Army Legal Services and holds the rank of Major-General
. The members of the corps provide legal advice to the Army as an organisation and to individual officers and soldiers. They also provide staff to the Service Prosecuting Authority.
.
The corps motto
was Justitia in Armis and the regimental march
was Scales of Justice, both of which are retained by the Army Legal Services Branch.
s. Remaining ALS Officer ranks range from Captain to Colonel. Currently there are:
•10 Colonels
•39 Lieutenant Colonels
•42 Majors
•30 Captains
ALS also has a number of Territorial Army officers. In civilian life, many of the TA officers are highly experienced criminal advocates in the Crown Prosecution Service
or private practice. Other TA officers are litigation experts, working as partners in firms of solicitors or at the Bar.
The SPA has its HQ and UK Office at RAF Northolt
, in Northwest London. It also maintains an office in Bielefeld, Germany.
, operational and criminal law
issues. There are advisory Officers in every major Army HQ around the world. Typically they advise on matters including: whether Commanding Officers should initiate disciplinary procedures for soldiers, Boards of Inquiry, whether administrative action should be taken against those suspected of breaching the Army's values and standards, how the Army should deal with grievance
s and other employment law related issues, delivering training on disciplinary/administrative processes and on emerging Army policies. Advisory branch Officers often work directly with the Army’s most senior commanders.
In addition within the Advisory branch there are ALS Officers specialising in particular areas such as specialist employment law, primary and subordinate legislation drafting and the drafting and editing of key documents such as the Manual of Military Law and the Queen's Regulations
.
Also, within the Operational Law is the specialist International Law
branch of ALS which is located in MOD and is engaged in higher level issues including advising on the Army's interest in the drafting of certain treaties and negotiating and drafting Status of Forces Agreements with other states.
The principle governing the services provided by ALA is that whilst serving overseas servicemen, their dependants and UKBC's are not able to obtain from civilian solicitors legal advice and assistance on their personal legal problems. ALA therefore exists to provide this service instead. ALA is a free service, but applicants must fund any court or other fixed costs (such as divorce fees) themselves. ALA officers conduct legal clinics in Germany and in operational theatres.
Promotion is based on annual reports. Subject to suitability, a Legal Officer may be promoted to the substantive rank of Major after six years' service, although it is not uncommon for ALS officers to be promoted to Acting Major rank earlier than the six year point. Once they are a substantive Major, an officer is eligible for promotion to substantive Lieutenant-Colonel after a further six years' service (subject to recommendations), although again it is not uncommon for ALS officers to be promoted to Acting Lieutenant-Colonel rank earlier.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Before 1992, the branch existed as the independent Army Legal Corps (ALC).
The ALS consists only of commissioned officers (currently about 120), all of them either qualified solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s, barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
s or advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
s. The head of the corps is known as the Director General of Army Legal Services and holds the rank of Major-General
Major-General (United Kingdom)
Major general is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within the Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of major general...
. The members of the corps provide legal advice to the Army as an organisation and to individual officers and soldiers. They also provide staff to the Service Prosecuting Authority.
History
The Army Legal Staff received full corps status as the Army Legal Corps on 1 November 1978. It was always the smallest corps in the Army. On 6 April 1992, the corps became the Army Legal Services Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps, but retains a separate identity and its own cap badgeCap badge
A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as well as uniformed civilian groups such as the Boy...
.
The corps motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
was Justitia in Armis and the regimental march
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
was Scales of Justice, both of which are retained by the Army Legal Services Branch.
Structure
The Director General of Army Legal Services is a Major-General. Beneath him there are three BrigadierBrigadier (United Kingdom)
Brigadier is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines.Brigadier is the superior rank to Colonel, but subordinate to Major-General....
s. Remaining ALS Officer ranks range from Captain to Colonel. Currently there are:
•10 Colonels
•39 Lieutenant Colonels
•42 Majors
•30 Captains
ALS also has a number of Territorial Army officers. In civilian life, many of the TA officers are highly experienced criminal advocates in the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
or private practice. Other TA officers are litigation experts, working as partners in firms of solicitors or at the Bar.
Director General
| Rank | Name | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Major General | M. D. Conway | October 2010 |
| Major General | David Howell David Howell (British Army officer) Major General David Malcom Howell, CB, OBE is a barrister and retired British Army officer who was, until January 2011, Director General, Army Legal Services.-Military career:... OBE |
January 2003 - October 2010 |
| Major General | Gordon Risius CB | April 1997 - January 2003 |
| Major General | A. P. V. Rogers | April 1994 - April 1997 |
| Major General | Mike Clarke | May 1992 - April 1994 |
| Major General | D.H. D. Selwood | January 1990 - May 1992 |
| Major General | M. T. Fugard | December 1986 - January 1990 |
| Major General | J. F. Bowman | February 1984 - December 1986 |
| Major General | Sir David Hughes-Morgan Bt. Hughes-Morgan Baronets The Hughes-Morgan Baronetcy, of Penally in the County of Pembroke, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 June 1925 for David Hughes-Morgan, Chairman of the Western Mail... CB Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... , CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
? - February 1984 |
Service Prosecuting Authority
The ALS posts a number of its Officers to the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA). The most senior military officer in the organisation is a Brigadier of the ALS who is the Deputy Director Service Prosecutions. Officers of the SPA prosecute cases at Court Martial and where appropriate Service Civilian Court. They also act as respondent in the Summary Appeal Court and represent the Crown at the Court Martial Appeal Court.The SPA has its HQ and UK Office at RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
, in Northwest London. It also maintains an office in Bielefeld, Germany.
Advisory Branch
The Advisory Branch of ALS advises the chain of command on a wide variety of administrativeAdministrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
, operational and criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
issues. There are advisory Officers in every major Army HQ around the world. Typically they advise on matters including: whether Commanding Officers should initiate disciplinary procedures for soldiers, Boards of Inquiry, whether administrative action should be taken against those suspected of breaching the Army's values and standards, how the Army should deal with grievance
Grievance
A grievance is a wrong or hardship suffered, which is the grounds of a complaint.-History and politics:A grievance may arise from injustice or tyranny, and be cause for rebellion or revolution....
s and other employment law related issues, delivering training on disciplinary/administrative processes and on emerging Army policies. Advisory branch Officers often work directly with the Army’s most senior commanders.
In addition within the Advisory branch there are ALS Officers specialising in particular areas such as specialist employment law, primary and subordinate legislation drafting and the drafting and editing of key documents such as the Manual of Military Law and the Queen's Regulations
Queen's Regulations
Queen's Regulations are a collection of orders and regulations in force in the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force, forming guidance for officers of these armed services in all matters of discipline and personal conduct...
.
Operational Law
When the British Army deploys on operations it takes legal advisors with it. When deployed on operations ALS Officers are often asked to advise on the most sensitive issues, as well as on international law and often on the local law of the country concerned. All army commanders at every level have access to legal advice from ALS Officers and this commitment is increasing all the time both in terms of deployments but also in terms of supporting the Army's pre-deployment training requirements. ALS Operational Law branch Officers are also often attached to the operations of NATO and the UN.Also, within the Operational Law is the specialist International Law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
branch of ALS which is located in MOD and is engaged in higher level issues including advising on the Army's interest in the drafting of certain treaties and negotiating and drafting Status of Forces Agreements with other states.
Army Legal Assistance
The headquarters of Army Legal Assistance (ALA) is presently located at Catterick Barracks, Bielefeld in Germany. This branch provides legal assistance and advice to entitled service personnel and their dependants worldwide. The majority of advice relates to family law, debt and German legal issues. ALA do not deal the Child Support Agency, wills and probate, property law or adoption and fostering.The principle governing the services provided by ALA is that whilst serving overseas servicemen, their dependants and UKBC's are not able to obtain from civilian solicitors legal advice and assistance on their personal legal problems. ALA therefore exists to provide this service instead. ALA is a free service, but applicants must fund any court or other fixed costs (such as divorce fees) themselves. ALA officers conduct legal clinics in Germany and in operational theatres.
Career structure
New ALS officers are commissioned as Captains on a Short Service Commission of four years and 210 days, the first year of which is probationary. This can be extended up to eight years, subject to satisfactory performance. If the commission is confirmed, an officer can apply, subject to having obtained two consecutive annual reports recommending conversion of commission, to convert to an Intermediate Regular Commission (IRC). If an officer obtains an IRC then that commission will allow them to serve up to their eighteen-year point. Once an officer has obtained an IRC then, again subject to obtaining the required recommendations in annual reports, they may apply for conversion to a Regular Commission. If granted, this will allow the officer to serve to the age of 60 or for a total of 34 years from the date of commissioning.Promotion is based on annual reports. Subject to suitability, a Legal Officer may be promoted to the substantive rank of Major after six years' service, although it is not uncommon for ALS officers to be promoted to Acting Major rank earlier than the six year point. Once they are a substantive Major, an officer is eligible for promotion to substantive Lieutenant-Colonel after a further six years' service (subject to recommendations), although again it is not uncommon for ALS officers to be promoted to Acting Lieutenant-Colonel rank earlier.