Thank you very much.
There are three paragraphs in section 98. There's paragraph 98(a), which says simply “every person who malingers or feigns or produces disease or infirmity”, and then it goes on to paragraph (b), making that an offence; paragraph 98(b) talks about aggravating or avoiding cures. Only paragraph 98(c) talks about willful self-harm.
Maybe you can't answer it today; it may be you're giving us advice. What I see and what families see is that singling out willful self-harm becomes a barrier to treatment. The aim of this legislation is to prevent avoidance of service, and that would be covered under paragraph (a) “...malingering, feigning, or producing disease or infirmity”. In other words, there's still adequate power there for commanders if someone is deliberately avoiding service. Taking out self-harm simply removes that perceived barrier to treatment. It wouldn't leave a legal gap.
I wonder if you have an opinion on that at this point.