Geneva Conventions Act

Section Interpretation Section In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— " advocate " means a person enrolled to practise as an advocate under the Advocates Act; " conventions " means the conventions set out in the Schedules to this Act; " court " does not include a court-martial; " Minister " means the Minister to whom functions under this Act are assigned; " prisoner’s representative " means, in relation to a protected prisoner of war at a particular time, the person by whom the functions of prisoner’s representative within the meaning of article 79 of the convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act were exercisable in relation to that prisoner at the camp or place at which the prisoner was, at or last before that time, detained as a protected prisoner of war ; " protected internee " means a person protected by the convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act and interned in Uganda: " protected prisoner of war " means a person protected by the convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act; " protecting power " means, in relation to a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee , the power or organisation which is carrying out, in the interests of the power of which he or she is a national, or of whose forces he or she is, or was at any material time, a member, the duties assigned to the protecting power under the convention set out in the Third Schedule or, as the case may be, in the Fourth Schedule to this Act.

Section Grave breach of conventions Section Any person, whatever his or her nationality, who, whether within or without Uganda commits or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of any grave breach of any of the conventions as is referred to in the following articles respectively of those conventions , that is to say— article 50 of the convention set out in the First Schedule to this Act; article 51 of the convention set out in the Second Schedule to this Act; article 130 of the convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act; article 147 of the convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, commits an offence and is liable on conviction— in the case of a grave breach involving the wilful killing of the person protected by the convention in question, to imprisonment for life; in the case of any other grave breach, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. Where an offence under this section is committed without Uganda, a person may be proceeded against, indicted, tried and punished for that offence in any place in Uganda as if the offence had been committed in that place, and the offence shall, for all purposes incidental to or consequential on the trial or punishment of the person, be deemed to have been committed in that place. Proceedings for an offence under this section shall not be instituted except by or on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Whenever in any proceedings under this section in respect of a grave breach of any of the conventions any question arises under article 2 of that convention, that question shall be determined by the Minister ; and a certificate purporting to set out that determination and to be signed by or on behalf of the Minister shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be so signed without further proof, unless the contrary is shown. Any enactment relating to the trial by court -martial of persons who commit civil offences shall have effect for the purposes of the jurisdiction of courts-martial convened in Uganda as if this section had not been passed.

Section Notice of trial of protected persons Section The court before which— The particulars referred to in subsection (1) are— For the purposes of this section, a document purporting— a protected prisoner of war is brought up for trial for an offence; or a protected internee is brought up for trial for an offence for which that court has power to sentence him or her to death or to imprisonment for a term of two years or more, the full name and description of the accused, including the date of his or her birth and his or her profession or trade, if any, and, if the accused is a protected prisoner of war , his or her rank and army, regimental, personal or serial number; his or her place of detention, internment or residence; the offence with which he or she is charged; and the court before which the trial is to take place and the time and place appointed for the trial. to be signed on behalf of the protecting power or by the prisoner’s representative or by the person accused, as the case may be; and to be an acknowledgment of the receipt by that power, representative or person on a specified day of a notice described in that document as a notice under this section, Any court which adjourns a trial for the purpose of enabling the requirements of this section to be complied with may, notwithstanding anything in any other enactment, remand the accused for the period of the adjournment.

Section Legal representation of certain persons Section The court before which— any person is brought up for trial of an offence under section 2 ; or a protected prisoner of war is brought up for trial for any offence, shall not proceed with the trial, unless— the accused is represented by an advocate ; and it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that a period of not less than fourteen days has elapsed since instructions for the representation of the accused at the trial were first given to the advocate , Where the accused is a protected prisoner of war , in the absence of an advocate accepted by the accused as representing him or her, an advocate instructed for the purpose on behalf of the protecting power shall, without prejudice to the requirements of subsection (1)(d), be regarded for the purposes of that subsection as representing the accused. Where the court adjourns the trial under subsection (1) by reason that the accused is not represented by an advocate , the court shall direct that an advocate be assigned to watch over the interests of the accused at any further proceedings in connection with the offence. At any such further proceedings, in the absence of an advocate , either accepted by the accused as representing him or her or instructed as mentioned in subsection (2), an advocate assigned under subsection (3) shall, without prejudice to the requirements of subsection (1)(d), be regarded for the purposes of that subsection as representing the accused. An advocate shall be assigned under subsection (3) in such manner as the Minister may, by statutory instrument, prescribe and any advocate so assigned shall be entitled to be paid by the Minister , out of monies provided by Parliament, such sums in respect of fees and disbursements as the Minister may direct.

Section Appeal by protected persons Section Where a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee has been sentenced to death or to imprisonment for a term of two years or more, the time within which he or she may give notice of appeal or notice of his or her application for leave to appeal to the High Court of Uganda or the Court of Appeal, as the case may be, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any enactment relating to such appeals, be the period from the date of his or her conviction or, in the case of an appeal against sentence, of his or her sentence, to the expiration of ten days after the date on which he or she receives a notice given— in the case of a protected prisoner of war , by an officer of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces; in the case of a protected internee , by or on behalf of the superintendent of the prison in which he or she is confined,

Section Reduction of sentence and custody of protected persons Section The Minister may in any case in which a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee is convicted of an offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment direct that there shall be deducted from that term a period not exceeding the period, if any, during which that person was in custody in connection with that offence, either on remand or after committal for trial, including the period of the trial, before the sentence began or is deemed to have begun to run. The Minister may in a case where he or she is satisfied that a protected prisoner of war accused of an offence has been in custody in connection with that offence, either on remand or after committal for trial, including the period of trial, for an aggregate period of not less than three months, direct that the prisoner shall be transferred from that custody to the custody of an officer of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces and thereafter remain in military custody at a camp or place in which protected prisoners of war are detained and be brought before the court at the time appointed by the remand or committal order.