(1)Where a soldier of the regular forces is convicted of desertion by court-martial, the period of hisservice as respects which he is convicted of having been a deserter shall be forfeited.
(2)Where any of a soldier’s service is forfeited the provisions of this Part of this Act . . . F1 shall apply to him, and he shall be liable to serve, in like manner as if theappropriate date were the date of his attestation and he had, on the appropriate date, been duly enlistedto serve for the like term (both as respects duration and as respects liability to army service and anyliability to serve in the reserve) as that for which he was in fact serving at the date of his conviction:
Provided that where at the date of his conviction the soldier was serving a term ending with theexpiration of a period beginning with the date of his attaining the age of eighteen years and he hadattained that age when he was convicted (whether or not he had attained it when the offence was committed)the duration of the term for which he is liable to serve shall be equal to that period and the time forwhich he is required to serve in army service shall be reduced accordingly.
[F2(3)In subsection (2) above “the appropriate date” means in relation to any person a date earlier than the date of hisconviction for desertion by the length of his service which is not forfeited.]
(4)Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, the right conferred on a soldierby [F3regulations made in pursuance of section 2(1)(c) of the M1Armed ForcesAct 1966] shall not be exercisable, in consequence of a orfeiture of service, at a time earlier than that atwhich it would have been exercisable apart from the forfeiture.
(5)[F4The Defence Council] may by regulations make provision for the restoration in whole or in part of any forfeited serviceto a soldier in consideration of good service or on other grounds justifying the restoration of serviceforfeited.
(6)Where service of any description is restored to a person by virtue of the last foregoing subsectionwhile he is in army service,—
(a)the amount of the service so restored shall, subject to the provisions of the next following paragraph,be credited to him for the purpose of determining for the purposes of this Act the amount of service, armyservice or service in the reserve, as the case may require, which he has served or is liable to serve; but
(b)in the case of a person who, when his service is restored, is serving, or subsequently serves, on termswhich entitle him to the right conferred by [F3regulations made in pursuance of section 2(1)(c) of the M2Armed ForcesAct 1966] the restoration shall not operate to alter the dates on which, by reason of the operation ofsubsection (2) of this section, his army service may be determined in pursuance of an exercise of thatright.
(7)Nothing in this section shall apply to a person who deserts at a time when he is, under [F3regulations made in pursuance of section 2 of the M3Armed Forces Act1966 or under any enactment repealed by such regulations], continued in service after the completion of twenty-two years’ service.
Textual Amendments
F1Words repealed by Armed Forces Act 1976 (c. 52), Sch. 10
F2S. 17(3) substituted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), s. 78(4), Sch. 1 para. 1(2)
F3Words substituted by S.I. 1967/1018, Sch. 3 Pt. 3
F4Words substituted by S.I. 1964/488, Sch. 1 Pt. I
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 17(2) amended by S.I. 1967/1018, Sch. 3 Pt. 3
Marginal Citations
Textual Amendments applied to the whole legislation
F5Act: the provisions of the 1955 Acts providing for findings of courts-martial to be subject to confirmation and to revision at the direction of the confirming officer cease to have effect (1.4.1997 subject to art. 3 of the commencing S.I.) by virtue of 1996 c. 46, s. 15; S.I. 1997/304, arts. 2, 3, Sch. 2