Naval Justice School
Building 360
360 Elliot Street
Telephone: (401) 841-3800
Website: http://www.jag.navy.mil/njs.htm
Since the Naval Justice School's (NJS) establishment in 1946, at Port Hueneme, California, NJS has annually trained thousands of DoD personnel in all aspects of military law. In 1950, NJS moved to its present location in Newport, Rhode Island. NJS currently provides accession and continuing legal training for all Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard lawyers and enlisted legal professionals, active and reserve, as well as training for Sea Service commanders, legal officers, senior enlisted, and others in the proper administration of military law. Staffed with officer and enlisted personnel from each of the Sea Services and supported by civilian administrative personnel, NJS currently offers more than 45 courses of instruction in Newport annually.
As the mission of NJS has expanded, additional offices have been established to serve commands in different geographical areas. These offices include a detachment in San Diego, California, established in 1991 to conduct training on the West Coast and overseas Pacific; a branch at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School (U.S. Army) in Charlottesville, Virginia, established in 1991; and a detachment at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, added in 1995 to provide waterfront legal training at the largest naval base in the world.
A ten-week Basic Lawyer Course trains Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard lawyers in the fundamentals of military justice and relevant civil law, with particular focus on the development of trial advocacy skills, administrative law and investigations, legal assistance, basic operational law, and the preparation of new military attorneys to act as counsel at courts-martial. Graduates often return to NJS from the field for added career training as staff judge advocates, and for specialized training in trial advocacy, prosecuting and defending complex cases, computer crimes, legal assistance, and the law of military operations.
The Naval Justice School and the detachments offer a number of courses to members who are not lawyers. A three-week Legal Officer Course trains junior officers and senior enlisted personnel in the basic administration of military justice and prepares them for duty as unit/battalion/squadron legal officers. A one-week Senior Officer Course, offered worldwide, provides commanding and executive officers with training on the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and other matters relating to their legal responsibilities. A three-day Senior Enlisted Leadership Course provides legal training on topics commonly encountered by senior enlisted leaders.
NJS also provides extensive training for enlisted personnel performing legal duties. The 11-week Legalman Accession Course provides intensive paralegal training for Navy enlisted personnel selected for the Legalman rating. In addition, all Legalmen are now required to participate in the Legalman Paralegal Education Program (LPEP), a 2-year program leading to an Associate of Science degree in Paralegal Studies. LPEP students study via distance learning, with some students returning to NJS for one semester of in-residence study with Roger Williams University. The Marine Corps Legal Services Specialist Course, which runs for nine weeks, is designed to give junior enlisted Marines the skills and training necessary to support legal offices throughout the Marine Corps. Select graduates from the Specialist course receive 11 weeks of additional training in the preparation of verbatim records of trial. The school also holds a Coast Guard Legal Technician course to train selected personnel in the basic military justice and civil law issues encountered in the Coast Guard. For enlisted personnel who are not in a legal rating or military occupation specialty (MOS), the school provides a two-week Legal Clerk Course on preparing report chits, service record entries, and other administrative matters relating to minor disciplinary infractions. In addition, NJS provides continuing legal training to enlisted legal professionals including courses in legal research and writing, court reporting, and specialized training for senior legalmen, command judge advocate personnel, and mid-career enlisted personnel.
NJS provides ongoing training to the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve component officers and enlisted legal professionals with the support of NJS Reserve Unit 101 and its USMC Individual Mobilization Activity Detachment. This vital training includes annual Reserve legal update symposia, Reserve refresher courses in command services and legal assistance, and focused enlisted paralegal training.
Finally, the school provides extensive training for commands in the local area including regular lectures at the Officer Development School, Senior Enlisted Academy, Surface Warfare Officers School, Command Leadership School, and the Naval Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut.