Geneva Convention (IV)

Art. 69. In all cases the duration of the period during which a protected
person accused of an offence is under arrest awaiting trial or punishment
shall be deducted from any period of imprisonment of awarded.

Art. 70. Protected persons shall not be arrested, prosecuted or convicted
by the Occupying Power for acts committed or for opinions expressed before
the occupation, or during a temporary interruption thereof, with the
exception of breaches of the laws and customs of war.

Nationals of the occupying Power who, before the outbreak of hostilities,
have sought refuge in the territory of the occupied State, shall not be
arrested, prosecuted, convicted or deported from the occupied territory,
except for offences committed after the outbreak of hostilities, or for
offences under Common law committed before the outbreak of hostilities
which, according to the law of the occupied State, would have justified
extradition in time of peace.

Art. 71. No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of the
Occupying Power except after a regular trial.

Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be promptly
informed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of the
particulars of the charges preferred against them, and shall be brought to
trial as rapidly as possible. The Protecting Power shall be informed of all
proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power against protected persons in
respect of charges involving the death penalty or imprisonment for two
years or more; it shall be enabled, at any time, to obtain information
regarding the state of such proceedings. Furthermore, the Protecting Power
shall be entitled, on request, to be furnished with all particulars of
these and of any other proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power
against protected persons.

The notification to the Protecting Power, as provided for in the second
paragraph above, shall be sent immediately, and shall in any case reach the
Protecting Power three weeks before the date of the first hearing. Unless,
at the opening of the trial, evidence is submitted that the provisions of
this Article are fully complied with, the trial shall not proceed. The
notification shall include the following particulars:
(a) description of the accused;
(b) place of residence or detention;
(c) specification of the charge or charges (with mention of the penal
provisions under which it is brought);
(d) designation of the court which will hear the case;
(e) place and date of the first hearing.

Art. 72. Accused persons shall have the right to present evidence necessary
to their defence and may, in particular, call witnesses. They shall have
the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own
choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the
necessary facilities for preparing the defence.

Failing a choice by the accused, the Protecting Power may provide him with
an advocate or counsel. When an accused person has to meet a serious charge
and the Protecting Power is not functioning, the Occupying Power, subject
to the consent of the accused, shall provide an advocate or counsel.

Accused persons shall, unless they freely waive such assistance, be aided
by an interpreter, both during preliminary investigation and during the
hearing in court. They shall have at any time the right to object to the
interpreter and to ask for his replacement.

Art.73. A convicted person shall have the right of appeal provided for by
the laws applied by the court. He shall be fully informed of his right to
appeal or petition and of the time limit within which he may do so.

The penal procedure provided in the present Section shall apply, as far as
it is applicable, to appeals. Where the laws applied by the Court make no
provision for appeals, the convicted person shall have the right to
petition against the finding and sentence to the competent authority of the
Occupying Power.

Art. 74. Representatives of the Protecting Power shall have the right to
attend the trial of any protected person, unless the hearing has, as an
exceptional measure, to be held in camera in the interests of the security
of the Occupying Power, which shall then notify the Protecting Power. A
notification in respect of the date and place of trial shall be sent to the
Protecting Power.

Any judgement involving a sentence of death, or imprisonment for two years
or more, shall be communicated, with the relevant grounds, as rapidly as
possible to the Protecting Power. The notification shall contain a
reference to the notification made under Article 71 and, in the case of
sentences of imprisonment, the name of the place where the sentence is to
be served. A record of judgements other than those referred to above shall
be kept by the court and shall be open to inspection by representatives of
the Protecting Power. Any period allowed for appeal in the case of
sentences involving the death penalty, or imprisonment of two years or
more, shall not run until notification of judgement has been received by
the Protecting Power.

Art. 75. In no case shall persons condemned to death be deprived of the
right of petition for pardon or reprieve.

No death sentence shall be carried out before the expiration of a period of
a least six months from the date of receipt by the Protecting Power of the
notification of the final judgment confirming such death sentence, or of an
order denying pardon or reprieve.

The six months period of suspension of the death sentence herein prescribed
may be reduced in individual cases in circumstances of grave emergency
involving an organized threat to the security of the Occupying Power or its
forces, provided always that the Protecting Power is notified of such
reduction and is given reasonable time and opportunity to make
representations to the competent occupying authorities in respect of such
death sentences.

Art. 76. Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the
occupied country , and if convicted they shall serve their sentences
therein. They shall, if possible, be separated from other detainees and
shall enjoy conditions of food and hygiene which will be sufficient to keep
them in good health, and which will be at least equal to those obtaining in
prisons in the occupied country .

They shall receive the medical attention required by their state of health.

They shall also have the right to receive any spiritual assistance which
they may require.

Women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the direct
supervision of women.

Proper regard shall be paid to the special treatment due to minors.

Protected persons who are detained shall have the right to be visited by
delegates of the Protecting Power and of the International Committee of the
Red Cross, in accordance with the provisions of Article 143.

Such persons shall have the right to receive at least one relief parcel
monthly.

Art. 77. Protected persons who have been accused of offences or convicted
by the courts in occupied territory, shall be handed over at the close of
occupation, with the relevant records, to the authorities of the liberated
territory.

Art. 78. If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative
reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons,
it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment.

Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be made
according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying Power in
accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This procedure
shall include the right of appeal for the parties concerned. Appeals shall
be decided with the least possible delay. In the event of the decision
being upheld, it shall be subject to periodical review, if possible every
six months, by a competent body set up by the said Power.

Protected persons made subject to assigned residence and thus required to
leave their homes shall enjoy the full benefit of Article 39 of the present
Convention.

Author: international