Catalogue description Records of the Judge Advocate General's Office relating to the court martials of RAF personnel

The Office of the Judge Advocate or Judge Advocate General can be traced back at least to the Civil War. Originally he was a lawyer whose functions were the making of arrangements for courts martial, the prosecution of military offenders before them and the recording of their proceedings. His duties in connection with courts martial soon extended to acting as legal adviser to the court and advising the sovereign on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy with regard to sentences of courts martial.

From 1905 the Judge Advocate General was appointed as part of the War Office. From 1918 he became legal adviser also to the Secretary of State for Air and had responsibility for courts martial of RAF personnel. In 1923 a Military and Air Force Department of his office was formed to undertake prosecutions, thus separating the office's prosecuting and judicial functions. On 1 October 1948, following the reports of the Army and Air Force Courts-Martial Committees 1938 and 1946 a complete separation was effected, the prosecuting functions passing to new Directorates of Legal Services in the War Office and Air Ministry).

The Judge Advocate General retained his judicial functions but was placed under the Lord Chancellor instead of the Secretaries of State for War and Air. To provide for appeals against conviction from courts martial a Courts-Martial Appeal Court was also established under the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1951. This act also made a number of provisions for appointments etc to the Judge Advocate General's Office.