10 U.S.C. § 8088: Judge Advocate General’s Corps: Office of the Judge Advocate General; Judge Advocate General; appointment, term, emoluments, duties

The Judge Advocate General’s Corps is a Staff Corps of the Navy, and shall be organized in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy. There is in the executive part of the Department of the Navy the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy. The Judge Advocate General shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four years. He shall be appointed from judge advocates of the Navy or the Marine Corps who are members of the bar of a Federal court or the highest court of a State and who have had at least eight years of experience in legal duties as commissioned officers. Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, in selecting an officer for recommendation to the President for appointment as the Judge Advocate General, shall ensure that the officer selected is recommended by a board of officers that, insofar as practicable, is subject to the procedures applicable to selection boards convened under chapter 36 of this title. perform duties relating to legal matters arising in the Department of the Navy as may be assigned to him; perform the functions and duties and exercise the powers prescribed for the Judge Advocate General in chapter 47 of this title; receive, revise, and have recorded the proceedings of boards for the examination of officers of the naval service for promotion and retirement; and perform such other duties as may be assigned to him. the ability of the Judge Advocate General to give independent legal advice to the Secretary of the Navy or the Chief of Naval Operations; or the ability of judge advocates of the Navy assigned or attached to, or performing duty with, military units to give independent legal advice to commanders. If the Judge Advocate General is removed from office before the end of the term of the Judge Advocate General as specified in subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense shall, not later than five days after the removal takes effect, submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives notice that the Judge Advocate General is being removed and a statement of the reason for the removal. In this section ‘law specialist’ means a line officer on the active or retired list of the Regular Navy or of the Naval Reserve designated for special duty (law) or a line officer of the Naval Reserve [now Navy Reserve] assigned a numerical designator indicating a special duty officer (law). All law specialists in the Navy are redesignated as judge advocates in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the Navy. Each law specialist of the Navy who is on a promotion list on the day before the effective date of this Act [ Dec. 8, 1967 ] shall be placed on the appropriate promotion list for the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and shall be eligible for promotion when the officer who is to be his running mate in the next higher grade becomes eligible for promotion in that grade.”