Geneva Conventions Act, 1962
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: —This Act may be cited as the Geneva Conventions Act, 1962.
num: 2
paragraphs: —In this Act—
“court” does not include a court-martial;
“Minister” means the Minister for External Affairs;
num: 3
paragraphs: —(1) Any person, whatever his nationality, who, whether in or outside the State, commits, or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of, any such grave breach of any of the Scheduled Conventions as is referred to in the following Articles respectively of those Conventions, that is to say:
num: 4
paragraphs: —(1) Any person, whatever his nationality, who, in the State, commits, or aids, or abets or procures the commission in the State by any other person of, any minor breach of any of the Scheduled Conventions shall be guilty of an offence.
num: 5
paragraphs: —If, in proceedings under this Act in respect of any breach of any of the Scheduled Conventions, a question arises under Article 2 of that Convention (which relates to the circumstances in which the Convention applies), that question shall be determined by the Minister and a certificate purporting to set out any such 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.
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paragraphs: —(1) The court before which—
(a) a protected prisoner of war is brought up for trial for an offence; or
(b) a protected internee is brought up for trial for an offence for which that court has power to sentence him to death or to penal servitude or imprisonment,
shall not proceed with the trial until it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that a notice containing the particulars mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, so far as they are known to the prosecutor, has been served not less than three weeks previously on the protecting power (if there is a protecting power) and, if the accused is a protected prisoner of war, on the accused and the prisoners' representative.
(2) The particulars referred to in subsection (1) of this section are—
(a) the full name and description of the accused, including the date of his birth and his profession or trade, if any, and, if the accused is a protected prisoner of war, his rank and his army, regimental, personal or serial number;
(b) his place of detention, internment or residence;
(c) the offence with which he is charged; and
(d) the court before which the trial is to take place and the time and place appointed for the trial.
(3) For the purposes of this section a document purporting—
(a) to be signed on behalf of the protecting power or by the prisoners' representative or by the person accused, as the case may be; and
(b) to be an acknowledgment of the receipt by that power, representative or person on a specified day of a notice described in the document as a notice under this section,
shall, unless the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence that the notice required by subsection (1) of this section was served on that power, representative or person on that day.
num: 7
paragraphs: —(1) The Court before which:
(a) any person is brought up for trial for an offence under section 3 or section 4 of this Act; or
(b) a protected prisoner of war is brought up for trial of any offence, shall not proceed with the trial unless:
(i) the accused is represented by counsel; and
(ii) 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 solicitor by whom that counsel was instructed,
and if the court adjourns the trial for the purpose of enabling the requirements of this subsection to be complied with, then, notwithstanding anything in any other enactment, the court may remand the accused for the period of the adjournment.
(2) Where the accused is a protected prisoner of war, in the absence of counsel accepted by the accused as representing him, counsel instructed for the purpose on behalf of the protecting power shall, without prejudice to the requirements of sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, be regarded for the purposes of that subsection as representing the accused.
(3) If the court adjourns the trial in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section by reason that the accused is not represented by counsel, the court shall direct that a solicitor and counsel be assigned to watch over the interests of the accused at any further proceedings in connection with the offence, and at any such further proceedings, in the absence of counsel either accepted by the accused as representing him or instructed as mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, counsel assigned in pursuance of this subsection shall, without prejudice to the requirements of sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, be regarded for the purposes of that subsection as representing the accused.
(4) In relation to any proceedings before a court before which the accused may be represented by a solicitor, the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed, with any necessary modifications, as if references in those provisions to counsel were references to counsel or a solicitor; and for the purposes of any such proceedings the court, in giving a direction under subsection (3) of this section may, if the court is satisfied that the nature of the charge and the interests of justice do not require that the interests of the accused should be watched over by counsel, direct that a solicitor only shall be assigned as mentioned in that subsection.
(5) A solicitor or counsel shall be assigned in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section in such manner as the Minister for Justice may by regulations prescribe, and any solicitor or counsel so assigned shall be entitled to be paid by the Minister for Justice out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such sums in respect of fees and disbursements as the Minister for Justice may by regulations (made with the consent of the Minister for Finance) prescribe.
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paragraphs: —(1) Where a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee has been sentenced by the Central Criminal Court to death or to penal servitude or to imprisonment for an offence under section 3 of this Act, the time within which he must give notice of appeal, or notice of his application for leave to appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal shall, notwithstanding anything in any other enactment or in any rules of court relating to such appeals, be the period from the date of his conviction or, in the case of an appeal against sentence, of his sentence to the expiration of ten days after the date on which he receives a notice given—
(a) in the case of a protected prisoner of war, by an officer of the Defence Forces; or
(b) in the case of a protected internee, by or on behalf of the governor or other person in charge of the prison or place in which he is confined,
that the protecting power has been notified of his conviction and sentence.
(2) Where after an appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal has been determined the sentence on a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee remains a sentence of death, or remains or has become a sentence of penal servitude or of imprisonment, an application to the Attorney General for a certificate authorising an appeal to the Supreme Court in respect of the conviction or sentence as confirmed or varied upon the previous appeal may be made at any time within the period from the date on which the decision by the Court of Criminal Appeal was given until seven days after the date on which the convicted person receives a notice by a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) (as the case may require) of subsection (1) of this section that the protecting power has been notified of the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal.
(3) An order of the court relating to the restitution of property or the payment of compensation to an aggrieved person on any such conviction as aforesaid shall not take effect, and a provision of any enactment relating to the revesting of property on a conviction shall not apply in relation to the conviction while an appeal by the convicted person is pending in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section.
(4) This section does not apply in relation to an appeal against a conviction or sentence by the Central Criminal Court, or against a decision on appeal of the Court of Criminal Appeal, if, at the time of that conviction or sentence, or of that decision, as the case may be, there is no protecting power.