Air Force Act 1955 (repealed)

EnlistmentF4 U.K.

Textual Amendments applied to the whole legislation

F4 Act: 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

1 Recruiting officers. U.K.

The following persons may enlist recruits in the regular air force 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 [F1 the Defence 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.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by S.I. 1964/488, Sch. 1 Pt. I

2 Enlistment. U.K.

(1) A person offering to enlist in the regular air force 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 air force 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 air force shall be that set out in the First Schedule to this Act.

(3) A recruiting officer shall not enlist a person under the [F2 appropriate minimum age] 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 whereabouts 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 [F2 appropriate minimum age], 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.

[F3 (5) In this Part of this Act the expression “appropriate minimum age” means the age of eighteen or, in a case falling within any class for which a lower age is for the time being prescribed, that lower age.]

Textual Amendments

F2 Words substituted by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), Sch. 4

F3 S. 2(5) substituted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), s. 63(1)