International Criminal Court Act 2006

Article 19

Witnesses

• (a) Immunity from personal arrest or detention;

• (b) Without prejudice to subparagraph (d) below, immunity from seizure of their personal baggage unless there are serious grounds for believing that the baggage contains articles the import or export of which is prohibited by law or controlled by the quarantine regulations of the State Party concerned;

• (c) Immunity from legal process of every kind in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in the course of their testimony, which immunity shall continue to be accorded even after their appearance and testimony before the Court;

• (d) Inviolability of papers and documents in whatever form and materials relating to their testimony;

• (e) For purposes of their communications with the Court and counsel in connection with their testimony, the right to receive and send papers and documents in whatever form;

• (f) Exemption from immigration restrictions or alien registration when they travel for purposes of their testimony;

• (g) The same repatriation facilities in time of international crisis as are accorded to diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention.

Article 20

Victims

• (a) Immunity from personal arrest or detention;

• (b) Immunity from seizure of their personal baggage unless there are serious grounds for believing that the baggage contains articles the import or export of which is prohibited by law or controlled by the quarantine regulations of the State Party concerned;

• (c) Immunity from legal process of every kind in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in the course of their appearance before the Court, which immunity shall continue to be accorded even after their appearance before the Court;

• (d) Exemption from immigration restrictions or alien registration when they travel to and from the Court for purposes of their appearance.

Article 21

Experts

• (a) Immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of their personal baggage;

• (b) Immunity from legal process of every kind in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in the course of the performance of their functions for the Court, which immunity shall continue to be accorded even after the termination of their functions;

• (c) Inviolability of papers and documents in whatever form and materials relating to their functions for the Court;

• (d) For the purposes of their communications with the Court, the right to receive and send papers and documents in whatever form and materials relating to their functions for the Court by courier or in sealed bags;

• (e) Exemption from inspection of personal baggage, unless there are serious grounds for believing that the baggage contains articles the import or export of which is prohibited by law or controlled by the quarantine regulations of the State Party concerned; an inspection in such a case shall be conducted in the presence of the expert concerned;

• (f) The same privileges in respect of currency and exchange facilities as are accorded to representatives of foreign Governments on temporary official missions;

• (g) The same repatriation facilities in time of international crisis as are accorded to diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention;

• (h) Exemption from immigration restrictions or alien registration in relation to their functions as specified in the document referred to in paragraph 2 of this article.

Article 22

Other persons required to be present at the seat of the Court

Article 23

Nationals and permanent residents

At the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, any State may declare that:

• (a) Without prejudice to paragraph 6 of article 15 and paragraph 1(d) of article 16, a person referred to in articles 15, 16, 18, 19 and 21 shall, in the territory of the State Party of which he or she is a national or permanent resident, enjoy only the following privileges and immunities to the extent necessary for the independent performance of his or her functions or his or her appearance or testimony before the Court:

• (i) Immunity from personal arrest and detention;

• (ii) Immunity from legal process of every kind in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by that person in the performance of his or her functions for the Court or in the course of his or her appearance or testimony, which immunity shall continue to be accorded even after the person has ceased to exercise his or her functions for the Court or his or her appearance or testimony before it;

• (iii) Inviolability of papers and documents in whatever form and materials relating to the exercise of his or her functions for the Court or his or her appearance or testimony before it;

• (iv) For the purposes of their communications with the Court and for a person referred to in article 19, with his or her counsel in connection with his or her testimony, the right to receive and send papers in whatever form.

• (b) A person referred to in articles 20 and 22 shall, in the territory of the State Party of which he or she is a national or permanent resident, enjoy only the following privileges and immunities to the extent necessary for his or her appearance before the Court:

• (i) Immunity from personal arrest and detention;

• (ii) Immunity from legal process in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by that person in the course of his or her appearance before the Court, which immunity shall continue to be accorded even after his or her appearance before the Court.

Article 24

Cooperation with the authorities of States Parties

Article 25

Waiver of privileges and immunities provided for in articles 13 and 14

Privileges and immunities provided for in articles 13 and 14 of the present Agreement are accorded to the representatives of States and intergovernmental organizations not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves, but in order to safeguard the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the work of the Assembly, its subsidiary organs and the Court. Consequently, States Parties not only have the right but are under a duty to waive the privileges and immunities of their representatives in any case where, in the opinion of those States, they would impede the course of justice and can be waived without prejudice to the purpose for which the privileges and immunities are accorded. States not party to the present Agreement and intergovernmental organizations are granted the privileges and immunities provided for in articles 13 and 14 of the present Agreement on the understanding that they undertake the same duty regarding waiver.

Article 26

Waiver of privileges and immunities provided for in articles 15 to 22

• (a) In the case of a judge or the Prosecutor, by an absolute majority of the judges;

• (b) In the case of the Registrar, by the Presidency;

• (c) In the case of the Deputy Prosecutors and the staff of the Office of the Prosecutor, by the Prosecutor;

• (d) In the case of the Deputy Registrar and the staff of the Registry, by the Registrar;

• (e) In the case of personnel referred to in article 17, by the head of the organ of the Court employing such personnel;

• (f) In the case of counsel and persons assisting defence counsel, by the Presidency;

• (g) In the case of witnesses and victims, by the Presidency;

• (h) In the case of experts, by the head of the organ of the Court appointing the expert;

• (i) In the case of other persons required to be present at the seat of the Court, by the Presidency.

Article 27

Social security

From the date on which the Court establishes a social security scheme, the persons referred to in articles 15, 16 and 17 shall, with respect to services rendered for the Court, be exempt from all compulsory contributions to national social security schemes.

Article 28

Notification

The Registrar shall communicate periodically to all States Parties the categories and names of the judges, the Prosecutor, the Deputy Prosecutors, the Registrar, the Deputy Registrar, the staff of the Office of the Prosecutor, the staff of the Registry and counsel to whom the provisions of the present Agreement apply. The Registrar shall also communicate to all States Parties information on any change in the status of these persons.

Article 29

Laissez-passer

The States Parties shall recognize and accept the United Nations laissez-passer or the travel document issued by the Court to the judges, the Prosecutor, the Deputy Prosecutors, the Registrar, the Deputy Registrar, the staff of the Office of the Prosecutor and the staff of the Registry as valid travel documents.

Article 30

Visas

Applications for visas or entry/exit permits, where required, from all persons who are holders of the United Nations laissez-passer or of the travel document issued by the Court, and also from persons referred to in articles 18 to 22 of the present Agreement who have a certificate issued by the Court confirming that they are travelling on the business of the Court, shall be dealt with by the States Parties as speedily as possible and granted free of charge.

Article 31

Settlement of disputes with third parties

The Court shall, without prejudice to the powers and responsibilities of the Assembly under the Statute, make provisions for appropriate modes of settlement of:

• (a) Disputes arising out of contracts and other disputes of a private law character to which the Court is a party;

• (b) Disputes involving any person referred to in the present Agreement who, by reason of his or her official position or function in connection with the Court, enjoys immunity, if such immunity has not been waived.

Article 32

Settlement of differences on the interpretation or application of the present Agreement

Article 33

Applicability of the present Agreement

The present Agreement is without prejudice to relevant rules of international law, including international humanitarian law.

Article 34

Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession

Article 35

Entry into force

Article 36

Amendments

• (a) Be considered a Party to the present Agreement as so amended; and

• (b) Be considered a Party to the unamended Agreement in relation to any State Party not bound by the amendment.

Article 37

Denunciation

Article 38

Depositary

The Secretary-General shall be the depositary of the present Agreement.

Article 39

Authentic texts

The original of the present Agreement, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General.

IN WITNESS THEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto, have signed the present Agreement.

SCHEDULE 3 Consequential Amendments

Section 66.

• (a) in subsection (3) (as substituted by section 56 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005) of section 169, by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

• “(c) if convicted of an offence under section 3 of the Geneva Conventions Act 1962 or an offence under section 7 (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) or 8 (ancillary offences) of the International Criminal Court Act 2006, be liable—

• (i) to imprisonment for life—

  • (I) if the offence involves murder or, in the case of an offence committed outside the State, the killing of a person in such circumstances as would constitute murder if the offence were committed within the State, or

  • (II) if a term of life imprisonment would be justified by the extreme gravity of the offence and the individual circumstances of the convicted person,

  or

• (ii) in any other case, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding thirty years;”,

and

• (b) in subsections (2)(c) and (3) of section 192 (as amended by section 5 of the Genocide Act 1973, section 6(b) of the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention against Torture) Act 2000, section 6(b) of the Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Act 2000 and section 56 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005), by substituting the following for “genocide”:

“an offence under section 3, as amended, of the Geneva Conventions Act 1962 or an offence under section 7 (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) or 8 (ancillary offences) of the International Criminal Court Act 2006”.

“shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction—

• (a) shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life—

  • (i) if the offence involves murder or, in the case of an offence committed outside the State, the killing of a person in such circumstances as would constitute murder if the offence were committed within the State, or

  • (ii) if a term of life imprisonment would be justified by the extreme gravity of the offence and the individual circumstances of the convicted person,

  or

• (b) in any other case, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years”.

• “(3)

  • (a) This subsection applies to an offence of which a person is accused or has been convicted outside the State and the act constituting which would, if done within the State, constitute an offence under—

    • (i) section 3 (grave breaches of Scheduled Conventions) of the Geneva Conventions Act 1962, as amended by section 3 of the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1998, and

    • (ii) section 7 (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) or 8 (ancillary offences) of the International Criminal Court Act 2006.

  • (b) For the purposes of this Part and without prejudice to section 3 (certain offences not to be regarded as political offences) of the Extradition (European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism) Act 1987, an offence to which this subsection applies shall not be regarded as a political offence or an offence connected with a political offence.”.

“Application of International Criminal Court Act 2006.

2A.– Parts II to VIII of this Act are without prejudice to sections 60 (immunities and privileges relating to International Criminal Court) and 61 (state or diplomatic immunity, etc.) of the International Criminal Court Act 2006.”.

• (a) in section 13(1) (as amended by section 6 of the Genocide Act 1973, section 8 of the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention against Torture) Act 2000, section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Act 2000 and section 59(a) of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005), by substituting the following for “genocide”:

“an offence under section 7 (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) or 8 (ancillary offences) of the International Criminal Court Act 2006”,

and

• (b) in section 29(1), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (g) (inserted by section 7 of the Genocide Act 1973):

• “(g) an offence under section 3, as amended, of the Geneva Conventions Act 1962 or an offence under section 7 or 8 of the International Criminal Court Act 2006.”.

“Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ancillary offences

6A. An offence under section 7 or 8 of the International Criminal Court Act 2006.”.

SCHEDULE 4 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948

Section 7(3).

The Contracting Parties,

Having considered the declaration made by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 96 (I) dated 11 December 1946 that genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilised world;

Recognizing that at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity; and

Being convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required,

Hereby agree as hereinafter provided:

Article I

The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

• (a) Killing members of the group;

• (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

• (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

• (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

• (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article III

The following acts shall be punishable:

• (a) Genocide;

• (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;

• (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;

• (d) Attempt to commit genocide;

• (e) Complicity in genocide.

Article IV

Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

Article V

The Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective Constitutions, the necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of genocide or of any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article VI

Persons charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.

Article VII

Genocide and the other acts enumerated in article III shall not be considered as political crimes for the purpose of extradition.

The Contracting Parties pledge themselves in such cases to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in force.

Article VIII

Any Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article IX

Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.

Article X

The present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall bear the date of 9 December 1948.

Article XI

The present Convention shall be open until 31 December 1949 for signature on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State to which an invitation to sign has been addressed by the General Assembly.

The present Convention shall be ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

After 1 January 1950 the present Convention may be acceded to on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State which has received an invitation as aforesaid.

Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article XII

Any Contracting Party may at any time, by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, extend the application of the present Convention to all or any of the territories for the conduct of whose foreign relations that Contracting Party is responsible.

Article XIII

On the day when the first twenty instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited, the Secretary-General shall draw up a procés-verbal and transmit a copy thereof to each Member of the United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in article XI.

The present Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession.

Any ratification or accession effected subsequent to the latter date shall become effective on the ninetieth day following the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession.

Article XIV

The present Convention shall remain in effect for a period of ten years as from the date of its coming into force.

It shall thereafter remain in force for successive periods of five years for such Contracting Parties as have not denounced it at least six months before the expiration of the current period.

Denunciation shall be effected by a written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article XV

If, as a result of denunciations, the number of Parties to the present Convention should become less than sixteen, the Convention shall cease to be in force as from the date on which the last of these denunciations shall become effective.

Article XVI

A request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting Party by means of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.

The General Assembly shall decide upon the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request.

Article XVII

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify all Members of the United Nations and the non-member States contemplated in article XI of the following:

• (a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with article XI;

• (b) Notifications received in accordance with article XII;

• (c) The date upon which the present Convention comes into force in accordance with article XIII;

• (d) Denunciations received in accordance with article XIV;

• (e) The abrogation of the Convention in accordance with article XV;

• (f) Notifications received in accordance with article XVI.

Article XVIII

The original of the present Convention shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.

A certified copy of the Convention shall be transmitted to each Member of the United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in article XI.

Article XIX

The present Convention shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the date of its coming into force.