Office of the AJAG Europe -
Selfkant-Kaserne
Quimperléstr. 100 Selfkant-Kaserne, 52511 Geilenkirchen, Germany
The primary role of the AJAG (E) Office is to provide legal support services to DND and CF personnel and their families in Europe (Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, France, Estonia, Russia, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary and Norway). This includes legal advice regarding the NATO SOFA, the Supplementary Agreement (Germany) and the Paris Protocol, advice to the Chain of Command regarding disciplinary and administrative matters as well as interpretation of various agreements, orders and regulations as well as property issues, processing claims by and against the Crown, provide legal training (Presiding Officers Certification Training, Law of Armed Conflicts and ROE training for deploying personnel) and legal information sessions to the community.
The secondary role of AJAG (E) is to complete the legal aspects of the closure of former CF bases in Germany. This encompasses responding to environmental damage claims against Canada in relation to those same properties (monitoring foreign environmental investigations and clean-up as well as continuous liaison with the German government) and advancing residual value claims on behalf of Canada for improvements made to German buildings and properties. It also includes reviewing unresolved claims involving the CF in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In addition to legal services similar to those provided by AJAG offices in Canada, AJAG (E) provides the following services, which are unique to our presence in Europe:
a. Advice on international stationing and other agreements with the countries listed above;
b. Advice on local civil law, to be observed within the framework of these agreements, on such matters as vehicle licensing, traffic offences, taxes and customs, rental and other contract law;
c. Consultation on Sending States matters;
d. Liaison with German government and other Allied government agencies on jurisdictional matters and the service of civil documents;
e. Cooperation and assistance to Canadian and European authorities;
f. Legal assistance to CF personnel and their dependents; and
g. Translation of legal documents.
