In the United Kingdom, the Judge Advocate of Her Majesty's Fleet was a civilian judge who was responsible for the supervision and superintendence of the court martial system in the Royal Navy. Until 2004, he shared responsibility for the naval court martial system with the Chief Naval Judge Advocate, a legally-trained serving naval officer who was responsible for the appointment of judge advocates. However the Chief Naval Judge Advocate's post was abolished because of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that held that, as a serving naval officer, his position was insufficiently independent.