Judge Advocate General (Canada)

The judge advocate general of the Canadian Forces (JAG; juge-avocat général des Forces canadiennes) is the senior legal officer who superintends the administration of military justice in the Canadian Armed Forces, and provides legal advice on military matters to the governor general, 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 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 legal officer positions and 64 reserve force legal officer positions. Regular force legal officers are deployed as follows:


 * National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa
 * Eight Assistant Judge Advocate General (AJAG) offices: Esquimalt, 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
 * Canadian Forces Military Law Centre at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario
 * Deputy Commander-in-Chief North American Aerospace Defence Command Headquarters (in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States)
 * with CF contingents deployed overseas
 * in training with CF formations and units participating in major national and international exercises.

List of judge advocates general

 * 1) Major-General Henry Smith, 1911-1918
 * 2) Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver Mowat Biggar, 1918-1920
 * 3) Brigadier Reginald John Orde, 1920-1950
 * 4) Brigadier-General William J. Lawson, 1950-1969
 * 5) Brigadier-General Harold A. McLearn, 1969-1972
 * 6) Brigadier-General James M. Simpson, 1972-1976
 * 7) Major-General John Patterson Wolfe, 1976-1982
 * 8) Brigadier-General Frank Karwandy, 1982-1986
 * 9) Brigadier-General Robert L. Martin, 1986-1990
 * 10) Commodore Peter R. Partner, 1990-1993
 * 11) Brigadier-General Pierre G. Boutet, 1993-1998
 * 12) Major-General Jerry S.T. Pitzul, 1998-2006
 * 13) Brigadier-General Ken Watkin, 2006-2010
 * 14) Major-General B. Blaise Cathcart, 2010-2017
 * 15) Rear-Admiral Geneviève Bernatchez, 2017-