Army Legal Services (ALS) is a branch of the Adjutant General’s Corps and the British Army’s in-house counsel. Its responsibilities are extensive, from prosecuting in the Court Martial and giving legal advice on international, civil and military law, to advising on operational law, the law of armed conflict and rules of engagement, and all aspects of service discipline.

ALS encompasses three broad elements – prosecutions, general advisory and operational law – but its barristers will work in all areas during their Army career, from advising the chain of command on the finer points of international law in the middle of a war zone to deciding whether to prosecute a soldier in the Court Martial.

ALS’s three pillars are broken down as follows:

Prosecutions

  • Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) is similar in function to the Crown Prosecution Service and is responsible for the prosecution of Service and criminal offences before the Service Courts. The Service Courts prosecute persons subject to Service law and civilians subject to Service discipline only and any issues involving concurrent jurisdiction between the Army and UK civilian authorities will normally be determined by consultation.
  • ALS Officers posted to the SPA manage cases and run prosecutions from start to finish, advocate in the Service Courts regardless of their professional background (solicitors, barristers or Scottish advocates).

Operational

  • Wherever in the world the Army operates, an ALS Officer will either deploy as part of the force or be required to provide time and security sensitive operational advice via reachback.
  • For example, ALS could be advising Commanders on operational law before targeting decisions are made, training troops on the ground on the Law of Armed Conflict or overseeing the treatment of captured persons in accordance with the UK’s human rights obligations.

Advisory

  • ALS officers working within an Advisory Law branch advise their chain of command on the range of issues facing the organisation from disciplinary matters to health and safety.
  • These officers are typically based at higher level Army formations such as Divisional or Brigade Headquarters and would be seen as generalist lawyers advising their specific chain of command. There are, however, some specialist roles within this pillar, such as litigation and employment law.

In recognition of their professional qualifications, the ALS is an officer-only branch of the Army. After two weeks of initial training, ALS officers attend a nine-week commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. There they are put through their paces learning basic military skills, including weapons training and drill, as well as the relevant areas of law and developing their ability to lead and command.

They are then sent out on attachments to combat units often based overseas where they operate as non-lawyers for three months to give them first-hand experience of Army life. Each year, ALS looks to recruit eight to ten fully qualified solicitors, barristers or Scottish advocates who are physically fit and aged between 23 and 32, though this upper age limit may be waived. 

Look out for our forthcoming 2025 recruitment campaign in Counsel magazine, and see here to find out more.