Legal Corps of the Spanish Navy | |
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Active | 1857 - 1989 |
Country | ![]() |
Type | Military justice (Navy) |
Role | Legal and policy advice to the Navy |
Part of | Spanish Navy |
Insignia | |
Identification symbol | ![]() |
The Legal Corps of the Navy was one of the Patented Corps of the Spanish Navy until its disappearance in 1989, due to the unification of the Legal Corps of the three Armies in the Military Legal Corps, by Law 17/1989 (forming part of what is known as the Common Corps of the Armed Forces). A first distant antecedent of the Auditors of the Navy can be found in the system of command and justice established in the Siete Partidas (Partida II, Title XXIV, «that fails of the war that is fought by sea»).
During the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (end of the 15th century) the figure of the Auditor General "of the people of war" was created, antecedent of the Legal-Military Corps of the Navy.
Already the Ordinance of June 26, 1571 provided for legal advisers in the Navy and in 1587 the Ordinances of Alejandro Farnesio ("First of Flanders") were established, which together with the Royal Ordinance of December 28, 1701 ("Second of Flanders" ) established the War Councils. Finally, in the year 1768 the Ordinances of Carlos III of Spain modified and detailed the powers of the War Auditor. Subsequently, the Infante Admiral's Navy Ordinances (1737) established the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, the 1748 Ordinances established the nucleus of the Military Criminal Law of the Navy, the Royal Order of January 1, 1751 resolved Of the appointed ministers in the provinces to exercise the jurisdiction of the Navy, a Royal Naval Ordinance was issued for the service of His Majesty's baxelles (Barcelona, September 18, 1802) and another Royal Ordinance for the government of the mountains and woodlands of the jurisdiction of the Navy (August 7, 1803) that established the assistance of an auditor to the Commanders of the Squadron and those of the province. But a Corps of Auditors in charge of military justice and advice on the Law of War and the Navy would not be created until the Royal Decree of December 22, 1852, complemented by a new Royal Decree of April 8, 1857, ceasing to speak since then of Navy Courts, substituting this name for that of the Legal Corps of the Navy, which actually created this provision. The decree established that there would be six Auditors, ten First Class Advisors, twenty-five Second Class, six Prosecutors of Audits, ten Prosecutors of Courts or Consultancies of the first and twenty-five of the second. The Naval Auditors were distributed, one in the Court of the Directorate of the Navy, another in each of the three Departments of the Peninsula and another two in the stations of Havana and the Philippines. The Director of the Navy had to put short lists for the consideration of Queen Elizabeth II of Spain for selection, or being eligible for the Auditors of Departments or Stations the natives of the jurisdiction. The Auditors would have the same salaries, rights and honors as those of the general captaincies of the military jurisdiction. Subsequently, the Royal Decree of October 19, 1866 regulated the entry by opposition and used for the first time the name of Military Legal Corps while the dictated on April 9, 1874 granted its members uniform, honors and jobs assimilated to those of the Army.
On October 9, 1882, November 17, 1886, July 23, 1910 and November 26, 1920, new Regulations for the Military Legal Corps were issued. something enormously selective, since it was made up of only sixty individuals in all of Spain. In the same way that entering the military legal corp provided, in addition to general social consideration, a secure income that guaranteed freedom in the practice of law. "After a new regulatory change on February 26, 1930, the The Law of September 12, 1932 ordered the demilitarization of the Corps, a decision that was reversed by the Law of July 17, 1935, which also ordered the drafting of new regulations, which were never published as a result of the July 18 uprising. 1936 and the subsequent civil war.
On February 1, 1946, a new organic regulation for the Military Legal Corps as a whole would be approved by decree. After the Spanish transition, Organic Law 1/1984 ordered the unification of services whose functions were not exclusive to a single Army. In this sense, by Law 6/1988 of April 5, the Defense Military Legal Corps was created, in which the Military Legal Corps of the three Armies were unified, with which the Navy Legal Corps ceased to exist.1 This unification caused discomfort among many components of the resulting Corps, especially among those of the Navy, where a considerable number of members resorted to all judicial and administrative instances against the unification, although they were unsuccessful. However, it revealed the deep bond they felt with the Navy, more than with the technical function they performed, a hallmark that singled out and differentiated the Legal Corps of the Navy from the other two.
In other Navies we can find Corps with similar functions, as is the case of the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, better known by its initials: JAG.
Badges
editThe insignia of the Corps is an ax in a bundle of lictors, inspired by the Roman fasces, which were a symbol of military power (a single rod can be broken, but not a bundle) and the ax of justice. The naval bundle of lictors was not surrounded by laurel like that of the Army. In the 1979 regulation it is described as follows: "... fasces embroidered in gold, the 28 mm long segur has a curved edge of 6 mm and all of it is embroidered in horizontal lines. The bundle of rods will have six vertical half rounds of 16 mm united by two ligature blades". As in the rest of the Patented Corps of the Navy, the badge was on the badges on the cuffs of the uniform and these, on a distinctive purple-violet background of the Legal Corps.
NATO Code | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | |||||||||||
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Vice Admiral | Rear Admiral | Captain | Commander | Lt. Commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant (junior grade) | Ensign |
In addition to its own stripes, the Legal Corps had a Plaque, which was placed on the left side of the uniform, on occasions when the use of decorations was necessary and was placed next to them or when a War Council was held (in this case, only the Plate was used). The Plate used from the employment of Captain to that of Robed Minister was gold; for the Lieutenant Auditors the model was the same, with the difference that this was silver (due to how expensive this plate was, when promoted to the grade of captain, the officers of the Corps had it gold plated, achieving significant savings). Another of the ceremonies in the War Councils, in addition to the use of the Plaque in the uniform, consisted of the Robed Judge placing his sword on the table during the celebration of the same.