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Armed Forces Bill

The notes say that it is three years. In Germany, desertion is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment, although deserters who return to their unit within a month may be sentenced for up to three years. In the Netherlands, desertion in peacetime can be punished by a maximum of two years’ imprisonment. In wartime, the punishment is a maximum of seven and a half years’ imprisonment. In Poland, refusal to perform military service or to carry out a task inherent in such service is punishable by a range of sentences, from six months to five years’ imprisonment, or up to three years in wartime. That is the tariff system that is applied by other countries in the EU, and against which we ought to be measuring the revision of our own armed forces legislation.