The Judge Advocate General (JAG) is the Chief of the combined Legal and Judicial system of the three Armed Forces in Sri Lanka. Holds full authority over all legal and Judicial matters concerning the Army, Navy and the Air Force of Sri Lanka. The authority to appoint the "Judge Advocate General" (JAG) is exclusively vested with the Head of State, the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
In the absence of the JAG, the Judge Advocate (JA) in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces is the legal and judicial chief of the respective service appointed by the Commander of that armed force. The Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force has its own legal branch with legally qualified officers. Each service may have its own Judge Advocate, held by an office of the rank of Major General, Brigadier, Rear Admiral, Commodore or Air Commodore. Judge Advocate General of a certain service may preside over and court martial on another service. JA officers provide legal help to the military in all aspects, in particular advising the presiding officers of courts-martial on military law. Appointment could be made to a serving legal officer or lawyer outside the service, normally a senior member of the Attorney-General's Department.
The Sri Lankan Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is the nation's army. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. In 2010, the Army had approximately 200,000 regular personnel, between 20,000–40,000 reserve personnel and 18,000 National Guardsmen and comprises 13 operational divisions, one air-mobile brigade, one commando brigade, one special forces brigade, one independent armored brigade, three mechanized infantry brigades and over 40 infantry brigades. From the 1980s to 2009 the army was engaged in the Sri Lankan Civil War.
The Sri Lankan Navy is the naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. The SLN is responsible for the maritime defense of the Sri Lankan nation and its interests.
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) is the air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major role throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War. The SLAF operates more than 160 aircraft and has a projected trained strength of 27,400 airmen and 1,300 officers, who are from both regular and reserve service. The Sri Lanka Air Force has expanded to specialize mainly in providing air-support to ground forces, troop landing, and carrying out air strikes on rebel-held areas in the Northern and Eastern theaters, but is also capable of high- and low-level air defence.
The title chief of staff identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide-de-camp to an important individual, such as a president, or a senior military officer, or leader of a large organization.
Air commodore is a one-star rank and the most junior general rank of the air-officer which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence such as Zimbabwe, and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. The name of the rank is always the full phrase and is never shortened to Commodore, which is a rank in various naval forces.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps is the branch or specialty of a military concerned with military justice and military law. Officers serving in a JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates. Only the chief attorney within each branch is referred to as the Judge Advocate General; however, individual JAG Corps officers are colloquially known as JAGs.
A Judge Advocate General is a principal judicial officer for a military branch or the armed forces at large, typically the most senior judge advocate.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is an Article I court that exercises worldwide appellate jurisdiction over members of the United States Armed Forces on active duty and other persons subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The court is composed of five civilian judges appointed for 15-year terms by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The court reviews decisions from the intermediate appellate courts of the services: the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command.
The Office of the Judge Advocate General for the Canadian Forces provides legal advice to commanders at bases and wings, provides lawyers who defend accused persons at courts martial, teaches courses to other CF members or advises a commanding officer in an operational theatre to uphold the ethical and legal principles established by both the Canadian Forces and the Government of Canada. The current JAG of the Canadian Forces is Commodore G. Bernatchez.
The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) uses a simplified ranking system for the three branches of Indonesian Army, Indonesian Navy and Indonesian Air Force. Most of the ranks are similar with differences for the rank titles of the high-ranking officers. Exception exists, however, in the ranks of the service members of the Indonesian Marine Corps. While Indonesian Marine Corps is a branch of the Navy, the rank titles of the Marine Corps are the same as those of the Army, but it still uses the Navy's style insignia.
The Rana Wickrama Padakkama is awarded to Sri Lankan military service personnel serving in both the regular- and volunteer forces as a reward for:
...individual or associated acts of bravery in the face of the enemy and performed voluntarily...
Rana Sura Padakkama is awarded to servicepersons of all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka for individual acts of bravery and otherwise distinguished conduct in the face of the enemy during active deployment.
An officer of one-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-6. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, one-star officers hold the rank of commodore, flotilla admiral, brigadier general, brigadier, or in the case of those air forces with a separate rank structure, air commodore.
The Sri Lanka Volunteer Naval Force (SLVNF) is the volunteer and volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Navy, established in 1937 as the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force. It is headquartered at SLNS Lanka, Welisara, and is tasked with a support and complementary role to the country's navy, partly by serving as a pool of civilian talent and expertise otherwise lacking in the regular naval force, and partly by acting as a reserve force during times of war.
In the United States Armed Forces, brigadier general is a one-star general officer with the pay grade of O-7 in the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. The rank of brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services. The NATO equivalent is OF-6.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the most senior appointment in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, and the highest-ranking military officer in service, outranking the heads of each service branch. The CDS does not, however, have operational command authority over service branches, but rather oversees inter-service co-operation and develops and implements the joint operations doctrine of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Coordination of inter-service joint operations are handled by the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff formally known as the Joint Operations Headquarters.
The Judge Advocate General Branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces is composed of Pakistan's Military senior officers, lawyers and judges who provide legal services to the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines at all levels of command. JAG branch comes directly under the Adjudant-General Branch of the army. The Judge Advocate General's Legal Service includes judge advocates, warrant officers, paralegal noncommissioned officers and junior enlisted personnel, and civilian employees. In Pakistan, the Judge Advocate General can have the rank of Lieutenant-General, Major or Brigadier-General. The JAG is currently led by the combined Pakistan Armed Forces's senior-rank officers that includes the Vice Admirals of the Navy, Air Marshals of the Air Force, and the Lieutenant-Generals of the Army whose names are kept highly classified.
Rear Admiral Sarath Palitha Fernando, PC, VNF is a Sri Lankan lawyer. He is the former Attorney General of Sri Lanka and had served as Solicitor General of Sri Lanka and Judge Advocate of the Sri Lanka Navy.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates.
Rear Admiral Conan Anthony Mohan Jayamaha, RWP, VSV, USP, psc, SLN was a Sri Lankan Admiral. He was Commander, Northern Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy when he was killed from wounds sustained in a land mine explosion that killed 7 other senior military officers including Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa in island of Kayts while making preparations for Operation Final Countdown the proposed invasion of the Jaffna Peninsula.
The Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is an office created by the Defence Force Discipline Act (1982), held by a judge or former judge of a Federal Court or a State Supreme Court. The appointment of JAG is made by the Governor-General-in-Council. The JAG may make procedural rules for tribunals that operate within the Air Force, Army, and Navy, provide the final legal review of proceedings within the ADF, participate in the appointment of Judge Advocates, Defence Force Magistrates, Presidents and members of courts martial, and legal officers for various purposes, and reporting upon the operation of laws relating to the discipline of the ADF.
