Army Act 1955

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1955 c. 18
Year1955


Army Act, 1955

(3 & 4 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 18

An Act to make provision with respect to the army.

B e it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

I Enlistment and Terms of Service

Part I

Enlistment and Terms of Service

Enlistment

Enlistment

S-1 Recruiting officers.

1 Recruiting officers.

The following persons may enlist recruits in the regular forces and are in this Act referred to as recruiting officers, that is to say,—

a ) whether within or without Her Majesty's dominions any officer authorised under regulations of the Army Council
b ) in a colony, any person authorised by the Governor of the colony
c ) outside Her Majesty's dominions, any British consul-general consul or vice-consul, and any person duly exercising the authority of a British consul
S-2 Enlistment.

2 Enlistment.

(1) A person offering to enlist in the regular forces shall be given a notice in the prescribed form setting out the questions to be answered on attestation and stating the general conditions of the engagement to be entered into by him; and a recruiting officer shall not enlist any person in the regular forces unless satisfied by that person that he has been given such a notice, understands it and wishes to be enlisted.

(2) The procedure for enlisting a person in the regular forces shall be that set out in the First Schedule to this Act.

(3) A recruiting officer shall not enlist a person under the minimum age for man's service unless consent to the enlistment has been given in writing—

  ( a ) if the person offering to enlist is living with both or one of his parents, by the parents or parent;

  ( b ) if he is not living with both or one of his parents, but any person (whether a parent or not) whose where-abouts are known or can after reasonable enquiry be ascertained has parental rights and powers in respect of him, by that person;

  ( c ) if there is no such person as is mentioned in paragraph ( b ) of this subsection or if after reasonable enquiry it cannot be ascertained whether there is any such person, by any person in whose care (whether in law or in fact) the person offering to enlist may be.

(4) Where the recruiting officer is satisfied, by the production of a certified copy of an entry in the register of births or by any other evidence appearing to him to be sufficient, that a person offering to enlist has or has not attained the minimum age for man's service, that person shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to have attained, or as the case may be, not to have attained, that age.

A document purporting to be a certificate signed by the recruiting officer, stating that he is satisfied as aforesaid, shall be sufficient evidence, until the contrary is proved, that he is so satisfied.

(5) In this Part of this Act the expression ‘minimum age for man's service’ means the age of seventeen years and six months, except that in such classes of case as may be prescribed it means the age of seventeen years.

Appointment to corps and transfer from one corps to another

Appointment to corps and transfer from one corps to another

S-3 Enlistment for general or corps service and appointment to and transfer between corps.

3 Enlistment for general or corps service and appointment to and transfer between corps.

(1) Recruits may, in pursuance of regulations of the Army Council under this Part of this Act, be enlisted for service in particular corps, but save as may be provided by such regulations recruits shall be enlisted for general service.

(2) The competent military authority shall as soon as practicable appoint a recruit, if enlisted for service in a corps, to that corps, and if enlisted for general service, to such corps as the competent military authority may think fit:

Provided that a recruit enlisted for general service before attaining the age of eighteen years need not be appointed to a corps until he attains that age.

(3) A soldier of the regular forces may at any time be transferred by order of the competent military authority from one corps to another:

Provided that except while a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power, or men of the reserve are called out on permanent service, an order under this subsection shall not be made otherwise than by a member of the Army Council unless the person to whom the order relates consents to the transfer.

(4) Where, in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection, a soldier of the regular forces is transferred to a corps in an arm or branch of the service different from that in which he was previously serving, the competent military authority may by order vary the conditions of his service so as to correspond with the general conditions of service in the arm or branch to which he is transferred.

Terms and conditions of service

Terms and conditions of service

S-4 Terms of enlistment.

4 Terms of enlistment.

(1) The term for which a person enlisting in the regular forces may be enlisted shall be such a term, beginning with the date of his attestation, as is mentioned in the following provisions of this section.

(2) Where the person enlisting has attained the minimum age for man's service the said term shall be—

  ( a ) a term of twenty-two years of army service; or

  ( b ) such term, not exceeding twelve years, as may be prescribed, being a term of army service; or

  ( c ) such term, not exceeding twelve years, as may be prescribed, being as to such part thereof as may be prescribed a term of army service and as to the remainder a term of service in the reserve.

(3) Where the said person has not attained the minimum age for man's service the said term shall be—

  ( a ) a term ending with the expiration of such period, not exceeding twelve years, beginning with the date on which he attains the age of eighteen years, as may be prescribed, being a term of army service; or

  ( b ) a term ending with the expiration of such period as aforesaid, being as to such part thereof as may be prescribed a term of army service and as to the remainder a term of service in the reserve.

S-5 Change of conditions of service after enlistment for term of twenty-two years.

5 Change of conditions of service after enlistment for term of twenty-two years.

(1) A person in army service who enlisted for a term of twenty-two years of such service shall have the right, exercisable as mentioned in subsection (5) of this section,—

  ( a ) to be transferred to the reserve at the end of the period of three or at the end of the period of six years beginning with the date of his attestation; or

  ( b ) to determine his service at the end of the period of nine years beginning with the date of his attestation or of any succeeding period of three years.

(2) A person in army service who enlisted as aforesaid may, on written application in that behalf made by him to the competent military authority and with the consent of that authority, be transferred to the reserve at any time before he has completed nine years' service.

(3) Where a person is transferred to the reserve under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section then (subject to the next following subsection)—

  ( a ) if he is so transferred before completing six years' army service he shall serve in the reserve for a period of four years:

  ( b ) if he is so transferred after completing six years' army service he shall serve in the reserve for a period of three years.

(4) A person in the reserve by virtue of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section may, on written application in that behalf made by him to the competent military authority and with the consent of that authority, at any time re-enter upon army service and, according as may be specified in the application, either—

  ( a ) be treated for the purposes of this Part of this Act in all respects as if that service had continued while he was in the reserve as aforesaid; or

  ( b ) serve in army service for the remainder of the period for which he would have been liable to serve in the reserve if he had not re-entered upon army service; or

  ( c ) serve in army service for a specified part of that remainder and thereafter serve in the reserve for the residue thereof.

(5) Subject to the next following subsection the right conferred by subsection (1) of this section shall be exercisable by notice in writing in the prescribed form given by the person in question to his commanding officer not less than six nor more than twelve months before the expiration of the period at the end of which he is to be transferred to the reserve or, as the case may be, his service is to determine.

(6) Where a person, in consideration of his being permitted to undergo a prescribed course of instruction or a course of instruction of a prescribed class, or of the conferring on him of such other benefit or advantage as may be prescribed, has undertaken, in the prescribed form and manner, not to determine his army service before the expiration of such period beginning with the day on which that course of instruction ends as may be prescribed or, as the case may be, before the expiration of such period as may be prescribed in relation to that other benefit or advantage, he shall not give a notice under the last foregoing subsection which would result in his transfer to the reserve or the determination of his service before the end of that period.

(7) A notice given by a person under subsection (5) of this section may be withdrawn by a notice in writing in the prescribed form given by him to his commanding officer at any time before the expiration of the period mentioned in that subsection, but where a notice under this subsection...

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