Disciplinary penalty and attestation: how to challenge them and what is at stake

What is happening

A penalty is rarely an end in itself. It is usually a step towards attestation and discharge for failing to meet the terms of the contract. One reprimand becomes a character reference, the reference becomes the attestation board's conclusion, and the man leaves the service on a ground that closes off both his payments and his status.

Breaches in the inquiry itself are constant: no explanation is taken, or it is taken under pressure, the time limits are ignored, a man is punished for conduct that appears nowhere in the papers, or punished twice for the same episode. Penalties are often backdated to fit the attestation.

The attestation is held without you, you see the reference for the first time at the sitting, and nobody accepts your objections. Yet the objections are precisely the document the court will later read. So the time to intervene is during the inquiry, not after the discharge order.

What the law says

• A disciplinary penalty may be imposed only after an inquiry in which you are entitled to give an explanation and produce evidence.
• You cannot be punished twice for the same conduct, and the penalty must match the gravity of the conduct and the circumstances.
• Time limits apply to imposing a penalty; a punishment imposed outside them is unlawful.
• Before attestation you must be shown the reference and given the opportunity to submit written objections, which the board is required to consider.
• Discharge for failing to meet the terms of the contract requires substantial and systematic breaches, not a single episode.
• The penalty, the attestation board's conclusion and any order based on them are challenged in the garrison military court within three months.

What we do

• We examine the inquiry materials and check the time limits, the substance of the alleged conduct and the authority of the officer who imposed the penalty.
• We prepare your explanation or written objections to the reference so that they also work in court.
• We attend the attestation board with you and ensure the objections are accepted and recorded in the minutes.
• We challenge the penalty and the board's conclusion and, where discharge follows, the order too, together with a claim to change the ground.
• We obtain the inquiry materials and the board's minutes through the court where the unit withholds them.
• We conduct the case in the garrison military court and on appeal in the district military court.

What we need from you

• The inquiry materials: explanations, reports and records, so far as you hold them.
• The extract from the order imposing the penalty, or the service card with its entries.
• The attestation reference and the minutes or conclusion of the attestation board.
• Your written objections and proof that they were submitted.
• Your service reference and extracts from orders on commendations and awards.
• Documents that explain the situation: medical certificates, proof of being in hospital or on deployment on the date in dispute.