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Most
JAG offices retain several highly trained investigators to
inquire into wrongdoing, or possible wrongdoing. Typically, these
investigators travel with their own security teams, and standard
protocol calls for a starship captain (or starbase commander) to put
the ship’s (or base’s) security forces at a visiting investigator’s
disposal. Their task is to gather facts and evidence and determine if
a courts-martial is warranted. JAG investigations continue until
the case is solved, or no clear determination can be made (at which
point the file is left open until new evidence may be brought to light.)
Although all Starfleet captains can call for a JAG investigation
of personnel under their command, most ranking officers prefer to conduct
their own inquiries and submit their own subordinates for courts-martial.
Normally, JAG investigators become involved in a case only when a
member of Starfleet is accused of wrongdoing by someone outside of his
chain of command. If no JAG officer is available to conduct an
investigation, it falls to the highest ranking officer to appoint an
investigator -- normally the ship’s Security Chief. Starfleet personnel
who show particular aptitude in law, or who attended law schoolon their
homeworlds, are frequently tapped to serve in the JAG Corps for at
least one tour of duty. This is not restriced to those with a legal bent,
however, the JAG office requires officers with a nose for the truth
and an unswerving devotion to the principles, rules, and regulations that
govern Starfleet. Security officers, science officers, or other experts in
the field could find themselves detailed to the JAG Corps for a
particular investigation. The Centre for Advanced Training provides classes
to those who desire legal training, most notably those Command personnel
aiming for promotions to Starfleet’s upper echelons.
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