Royal Ulster Constabulary Regulations 1996

Probationary service in the rank of constable

12.—(1) This regulation shall apply to a member appointed in the rank of constable other than such a member who transferred to the force from a police force in Great Britain, having completed the required period of probation therein.

(2) A member to whom this regulation applies shall, unless paragraph (3) applies to his case, be on probation for the first 2 years of his service as a constable following his last appointment thereto or for such longer period as the chief constable determines in the circumstances of a particular case.

(3) A member to whom this regulation applies who has served on probation for a period of not less than a year following a previous appointment to the force or a police force in Great Britain shall be on probation for the first year of his service as a constable following his last appointment thereto or for such longer period as the chief constable determines in the circumstances of a particular case:

Provided that the chief constable may at his discretion—

(a) reduce the period of probation, so however that the reduced period, when aggregated with the previous period of probation, shall not be less than 2 years; or

(b) dispense with the period of probation, if the member, following his previous appointment, completed the required period of probation in the force in question.

(4) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a) in reckoning service, any period of unpaid leave shall be disregarded;

(b) in the case of a university scholar, in reckoning service his period of study shall be disregarded;

(c) in the case of a member who has been transferred to the force from an aerodrome constabulary by an order under section 30 of the Aviation Security Act 1982, his service in that constabulary shall, for the purposes of this regulation, be treated as if it were service in the force;

(d) in reckoning service in the case of a female member who has taken one or more periods of maternity leave—

(i) where that leave has been for fourteen weeks or more, the first fourteen weeks whilst on maternity leave shall be treated as if it were service in the force;

(ii) where that leave has been for less than fourteen weeks, any period spent on maternity leave shall be treated as if it were service in the force.