+ A
A -
Tribune News Network
Doha
Every Qatari male between the ages of 18 and 35 or has a high school diploma or equivalent, whichever is earlier, is required to perform a compulsory military service, according to Law No. 5 of 2018 on national service issued by the Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani on Wednesday.
The law stipulates that no appointments will be permitted to any jobs nor any licence granted for practising free profession or to register in the schedules of operators thereof unless the aspirant has put in mandatory military service. This is not applicable to people who have completed active service or have otherwise been excluded or exempted from or whose service has been deferred.
The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Health and other bodies concerned are required to provide the National Services Academy during the first half of each year the names of males who will be turning 18 years in the following year.
The Qatari male must present himself to the National Services Academy within 60 days from the date of attaining the age of 18 or obtaining the high school certificate or the equivalent, whichever is earlier.
As per the law, no employee may remain in his job or work after the issuance of a warrant calling him up for the performance of active service, except those who have been excluded or exempted there from or whose service has been deferred.
No employee shall be permitted to resume or continue work until after the submission of an authorised letter from the competent military authority (which shall be specified upon a resolution by the minister) indicating completion of the service for which he has been called up.
The national service for females of the age of 18 is voluntary.
The minister or his representative may recruit persons to whom the provisions of this law do not apply, provided that the age of the recruit is not less than 18 years.
The controls, duration and nature of the service must be determined by virtue of a resolution of the Minister or his authorised representative.
The period of active service will be one year for persons whose age is less than 18 or who has obtained a high school certificate or the equivalent, whichever is earlier, and graduates of universities, colleges, higher institutes.
The period of active service will be four months for the employees whose actual service in the civil service is not less than four months.
Students of military colleges, institutes and schools, and those who have completed their studies therein (as long as they have completed their basic training period) will be excluded from performing active service.
Similarly, persons appointed with military ranks who are subject to the Military Service Law and whose service therein has ended, have also been excluded from the active service.
Such other categories as may be excluded by a resolution issued by the Minister or his authorised representative, based on the requirements of the public interest or for considerations of national security.
This provision shall also apply to those who are already enrolled for the active service.
The following categories shall be exempted from performing active service:
A designee who proves upon a medical examination to be physically unfit for service; a designee who is the family provider from among the children of a soldier or reservist who died or was discharged owing to illness, injury, disability or handicap resulting from military service. Total incapacitation shall be deemed equivalent to death;
A family provider who is the son of a martyr; a family provider who is the son of a missing person who is declared dead.
Active service shall be deferred for a renewable of one-year period for each of the following categories: a designee who, upon the resolution of the competent medical committee, is proven to suffer from a disability, handicap or illness which temporarily prevents him from active service; being the only breadwinner for his parents, provided the father is medically incapacitated or incapable of earning a living; being the only provider for his mother, if she is widow or irrevocably divorced or if her husband is medically incapacitated or incapable of earning a living; being the only provider for his brother or brothers who are incapable of earning or have not reached the age of 18, or for his sisters if they are unmarried; being one of the two sons of his parents or a father or mother, if any of them has two sons of the age of conscription; being the provider for the children of a captive or missing soldier until he returns or a verdict is issued confirming that he is missing; a person whose only wife has died, has minor children, and did not marry another woman; where a person has been sentenced to a freedom-restricting sanction, active service shall be deferred for the duration of the execution of the sentence. The same shall apply to a person under provisional custody.
Active service shall be deferred for one renewable year for high school students and above, or their equivalent, within the state or abroad, until the completion of their studies according to the following conditions: a student shall not be enrolled in night school or completes his studies by correspondence or affiliation; he shall be a regular student and shall not have discontinued his study or been expelled there from. The age categories shall not exceed the following: 21 years for secondary school study, 25 years for study at pre-university institutes after obtaining a secondary school certificate, 28 years for study in universities, and where a student attains the aforesaid maximum age during the school year, his conscription shall remain deferred until the end of that year. In all cases, the deferment shall be repealed in the event of his expulsion from secondary or university study.
Upon a resolution of the Minister or his authorised representative, active service may be deferred for graduates of colleges and institutes if the nature of their study requires a period of training after obtaining the qualification. Upon a resolution of the Minister, the service of a designee who is a candidate for appointment to military authorities may be deferred for a period not exceeding one year or until the issuance of a resolution of appointment, whichever is earlier, provided that the designee has not reached 30 years.
In case of war or general mobilisation or a declaration of martial law, the deferment of active service may be annulled for some or all of the categories upon a resolution of the Minister or his authorised representative.
A conscript shall be discharged if he completed his active service. However, in a state of war or general mobilisation or declaration of martial law, the conscript may be retained until the end of such conditions.
A conscript shall also be discharged if proven to be unfit for active service due to health reasons.
A conscript whose active service ends while he is a captive or missing in action shall be deemed equivalent to a reservist who is called up to carry out actual reserve service.
Conscripts of various categories shall be transferred to reserve service after the end of their active service. Reservists shall be assigned to the reserve for a period of 10 years or until they reach the age of 40, whichever is sooner.
The law is effective starting from the following day of its publication in the Official Gazette.
