Military Tribunal

[familyhistoryman]

Hi

What was the normal time period for someone to join the army after being refused his appeal by a Local Tribunal? There is no evidence that he made any further appeals. 

Regards, Tony

[kenf48]

The Local Tribunal was responsible under the Military Service Act for reviewing or renewing a certificate of exemption and could withdraw or vary the terms of the exemption. If a man did not agree with the Local Tribunal's decision it was open to him to appeal their decision at the Appeal Tribunal for the area (Second Schedule to the Act).

 

If no exemption was granted the applicant was immediately placed in the Reserve and became liable for call up.  

 

The date for call up was occasionally deferred by the Local Tribunal according to the circumstances of the application.  A Local Tribunal normally sat fortnightly, and in rejecting an application often stated in their decision that a man was liable for call up within a couple of weeks from the date the decision was made, or at the end of the month, e.g if sitting in May could say he should not be liable for call up until June.   Where records have survived there are examples of allowing six weeks before a man became liable for call up, especially in the cases of sole proprietors who were given a little extra time 'to put their affairs in order'.

 I'm not sure if these were merely advisory for the military representative and if the demand for men was great were adhered to.

 

The only significant time period mentioned in the original Act is at Section 3 (3) which stated that when a certificate of exemption was withdrawn, 

'the man to whom the certificate was granted shall, as from the expiration of two months after the date on which the certificate ceases to be in force be deemed to have enlisted and transferred to the reserve...'  In effect this meant a man had two months to make application for his certificate to be renewed.

If the certificate was not renewed in this period then the holder 'becomes enlisted and placed in the Reserve' and was immediately liable for call up under the terms of the Act. 

 

For men who had attested under the Derby Scheme (and therefore were already in the "B" Army Reserve) the advice to the Local Tribunals was that after the withdrawal of a certificate of exemption then a period of seven days grace was allowed after the expiration of the certificate for the man to make an application as above.

 

Ken

 

 

[familyhistoryman]

Ken

 

Many thanks

tony

[Magnumbellum]

The Military Service Act, unsurprisingly, provided for Local and Appeal Military Service Tribunals. It did not provide for Military Tribunals, as implied in the title to this thread.

 

The distinction is not merely pedantic. A Military Tribunal is one run by and for the military, as happens in some countiries The British Military Service Tribunals of the Great War were civilians appointed by local councils, under the supervision of the Local Government Board.