Reserve Forces Act 1996

96 Failure to attend for service on call out or recall

(1) A member of a reserve force served with a call-out notice under any provision of this Act who, without leave lawfully granted or reasonable excuse—

(a) fails to present himself for service at the time and place specified in the call-out notice under section 32(3)(b), 43(4)(b) or 58(3)(c) (as the case may be);

(b) having so presented himself, fails to remain there until accepted into service or informed that he is not to be accepted into service in pursuance of that notice; or

(c) where he has for any reason failed to present himself at the time and place so specified or to remain there, fails —

(i) to present himself to a person specified in the call-out notice or to any other authorised officer; or

(ii) having so presented himself, to remain until accepted into service or informed that he is not to be accepted into service in pursuance of that notice,

is guilty, according to the circumstances, of desertion or absence without leave.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to a person liable to recall as it applies to a member of a reserve force—

(a) with the substitution for references to a call-out notice of references to a recall notice; and

(b) as if paragraph (a) of that subsection referred to the time and place specified in the recall notice under section 70(3)(c).

(3) An offence under this section is triable by court-martial or summarily by a civil court.