FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
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First Regular Session 
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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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Introduced by Senator JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBlRl 
Explanatory Note 
Crimes against humanity have not gone unnoticed. It is not an emerging 
concept. A brief review of war history would show that it has been there all along. 
Systematic torture, rape, and genocide are but among the few. 
The Nuremburg trial revealed the atrocities against humanity where it was 
learned that perpetrators of heinous crimes are given asylum in some "friendly" 
state. If at all, the arrest and immediate trial are hampered by the intricacies of 
another state's legal system. In the case of the Balkans, systematic elimination of 
race, religion, and ethnicity were committed by few misguided patriots. In Africa, 
tribes are fighting against one another in pursuit of supremacy. The details are 
horrifying. 
As in any civilized nation, a multicultural state such as ours must show the 
meaning of tolerance. And while we are at it, we should be quick to show our 
intolerance against criminal acts towards other races, cultures, beliefs, and 
ethnicity. This country must send a message to the world that we cannot tolerate 
crimes against humanity. We live united not only in peace but in declaring war 
against those who commit and encourage any form of systematic killing, rape, 
and torture. 
This bill seeks to define and penalize crimes against humanity. It is the 
expression of our oneness with our brothers and sisters no matter what kind of 
belief, culture, or race they may have. It strongly impresses to the family of 
nations that we shall not coddle perpetrators of crimes against humanity. It 
shows our readiness and willingness to embrace the principles long-cherished by 
any civilized state. 
In view of the foreg 


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.'!t. 7.. . . 
!'i 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
s 
-6 I21258 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENATE 
S. NO. 
introduced by Senator JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBfRl 
AN ACT 
DEFINING AND PENALIZING CRIMES AGAINST 
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND 
OTHER SERIOUS INTERNATIONAL CRIMES, 
OPERATIONALIZING UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION, 
DESIGNATING SPECIAL COURTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
PART 1. INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS 
SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Act on 
Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law and Other Serious International 
Crimes." 
SEC. 
2 Declaration of Principles and State Policies. 
A. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, 
adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of 
the law of the land and adheres to a policy of peace, equality, justice, 
freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations. 
B. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full 
respect for human rights, including the rights of indigenous cultural 
communities and other vulnerable groups. 
C. The principles, rules and regulations of the Hague Conventions and the 
Geneva Conventions on warfare and international humanitarian law 
form part of the law of our nation. 
D. The most serious crimes of concern to the international community as 
a whole must not go unpunished and their effective prosecution must 
be ensured by taking measures at the national level, in order to put an 


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end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus contribute 
to the prevention of such crimes, it being the duty of every State to 
exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international 
crimes. 
E. The State shall guarantee persons suspected or accused of grave 
crimes under international law all rights necessary to ensure that their 
trials will be fair and prompt in strict accordance with international law 
and standards for fair trials. It shall also protect victims, witnesses and 
their families, and provide appropriate redress to victims and their 
families. 
PART 2. DEFINING AND PENALIZING THE MOST SERIOUS 
CRIMES OF INTERNATIONAL CONCERN 
SEC. 3. War Crimes. War crimes, or crimes against international humanitarian 
law (IHL), are hereby defined and penalized as follows: 
A. For the purpose of this Act, “war crimes” applicable in both international 
and non-international armed conflicf means: 
1. 
Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, 
following acts against persons or property 
namely, any of the 
protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention: 
Willful killing; 
Torture 
or 
inhuman 
treatment, 
including 
biological 
experiments; 
Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or 
health: 
Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by 
military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; 
Willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and 
regular trial; 
Taking of hostages; 
Launching an attack against works or installations containing 
dangerous forces in the knowledge that such attack will cause 
excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian 
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2. 
objects, and causing death or serious injury to body or health: 
and 
Making non-defended localities and demilitarized zones the 
object of attack, and causing death or serious injury to body or 
health. 
(h) 
Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed 
conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, 
any of the following acts: 
Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as 
such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in 
hostilities; 
Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, 
objects which are not military objectives; 
Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, 
medical units and transport, and personnel using the 
distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity 
with international law; 
Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, 
material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian 
assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the 
Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to 
the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the 
international law of armed conflict; 
Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such 
attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or 
damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and 
severe damage to the natural environment which would be 
clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military 
advantage anticipated; 
Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, 
dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are 
not military objectives; 
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(9) 
Killing or wounding a combatant who, having laid down his 
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arms or having no longer means of defense, has surrendered 
at discretion; 
Making improper or perfidious use of a flag of truce, of the flag 
or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the 
United Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the 
Geneva Conventions or other protective signs under 
international humanitarian law, resulting in death , serious 
personal injury or capture; 
Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to 
religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic 
monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded 
are collected, provided they are not military objectives; 
Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to 
physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any 
kind, or to removal of tissue or organs for transplantation, which 
are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment 
of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, 
and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of 
such person or persons; 
Killing, wounding or capturing an adversary by resort to perfidy; 
Declaring that no quarter will be given; 
(m) Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such 
destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the 
necessities of war; 
(n) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault; 
(0) Ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons 
related to 
the conflict, unless the security of the civiiians 
involved or imperative military reasons so demand; 
(p) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular 
humiliating and degrading treatment; 
A 


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Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced 
pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual 
violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva 
Conventions; 
Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to 
render certain points, areas or military forces immune from 
military operations; 
Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical 
units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive 
emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with 
international law; 
Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare 
by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, 
including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under 
the Geneva Conventions; 
Conscripting, enlisting or recruiting children under the age of 
eighteen years into the national armed forces or using them to 
participate actively in hostilities. 
Employing poison or poisoned weapons; 
Employing asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all 
analogous liquids, materials or devices; 
Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human 
body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not 
entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions; 
(y) 
Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of 
warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or 
unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in 
violation of the international law of armed conflict; 
B. 
In case of a non-international armed conflict, serious violations of 
Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, 
namely, any of the following acts committed against persons taking no 
active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who 
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have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by 
sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause: 
1. 
Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, 
mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; 
2. 
Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular 
humiliating and degrading treatment; 
3. Taking of hostages: 
4. 
The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions 
without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly 
constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are 
generally recognized as indispensable. 
C. In case of an international armed conflict, the following grave breaches and 
serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed 
conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely any of the 
following acts: 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
Killing or wounding treacherously individuals belonging to the 
hostile nation or army; 
Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve 
in the forces of a hostile Power; 
Compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the 
operations of war directed against their own country, even if 
they were in the belligerent's service before the commencement 
of the war; 
Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; 
The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of 
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or 
the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the 
occupied territory within or outside this territory; 
Declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law 
the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party; 
Willfully depriving a prisoner of war of the rights of fair and 
regular trial; 
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D. 
E. 
F. 
G. 
8. 
Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or 
civilians. 
The foregoing provisions applicable to non-international armed 
conflicts shall not apply to situations of internal disturbances and 
tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other 
acts of a similar nature, as not being armed conflicts. 
Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall be invoked for the purpose 
of affecting the sovereignty of the State or the responsibility of the 
government to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or 
to defend the national unity and territorial integrity of the State, by all 
means that are lawful under national and international law. 
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal 
status of the parties to the conflict. 
Any person who commits any war crime as defined above shall 
suffer the main penalty of imprisonment for a specified number of 
years within a range from 15 to 30 years. When justified by the 
extreme gravity of the crime, especially where it results in deaths 
and/or serious bodily injuries, and by the individual circumstances of 
the convicted person, the Court may impose a term within a range 
from 30 to 40 years. 
SEC. 4. Genocide. Genocide is hereby defined and penalized as follows: 
A. 
For the purpose of this Act, “genocide” means any of the following 
acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, 
ethnical, racial, religious, political, social or any similar stable and 
permanent group, as such: 
1. Killing members of the group; 
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; 
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to 
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; 
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. 


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B. 
Any person who commits genocide as defined above shall suffer the 
main penalty of imprisonment for a specified number of years within a 
range from 15 to 30 years. When justified by the extreme gravity of 
the crime, especially where it results in deaths and/or serious bodily 
injuries, and by the individual circumstances of the convicted person, 
the Court may impose a term within a range from 30 to 40 years. 
SEC. 5. Crimes Against Humanity. Crimes against humanity are hereby 
defined and penalized as follows: 
A. 
For the purpose of this Act, “crime against humanity” means any of 
the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or 
systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with 
knowledge of the attack: 
1. Murder: 
2. Extermination; 
3. Enslavement; 
4. Deportation or forcible transfer of population; 
5. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in 
violation of fundamental rules of international law; 
6. Torture: 
7. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, 
enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of 
comparable gravity; 
8. 
Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on 
political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or other 
grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under 
international law, in connection with any act referred to in this 
paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; 
9. Enforced disappearance of persons; 
I O .  The crime of apartheid; 
1 I. 
Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing 
great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical 
health. 
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B. For the purpose of paragraph A: 
1. "Attack directed against any civilian population'' means a course of 
conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in 
paragraph A against any civilian population, pursuant to or in 
furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such 
attack; 
2. "Extermination" includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, 
inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated 
to bring about the destruction of part of a population; 
3. "Enslavement" means the exercise of any or all of the powers 
attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the 
exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in 
particular women and children; 
4. "Deportation or forcible transfer of population" means forced 
displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other 
coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, 
without grounds permitted under international law; 
5. "Torture" means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, 
whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under 
the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain 
or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful 
sanctions; 
6. "Forced pregnancy" means the unlawful confinement of a woman 
forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic 
composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations 
of international law. This definition shall not in any way be 
interpreted as affecting national laws relating to pregnancy: 
7. "Persecution" means the intentional and severe deprivation of 
fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the 
identity of the group or collectivity; 
8. 
"The crime of apartheid" means inhumane acts of a character 
similar to those referred to in paragraph A, committed in the 
context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and 
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domination by one racial group over any other racial group or 
groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime; 
9. "Enforced disappearance of persons" means the arrest, detention 
or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or 
acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a 
refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give 
information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the 
intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a 
prolonged period of time. 
C. For the purpose of this Act, it is understood that the term "gender" 
refers to the two sexes, male and female, and also to those of gay, 
lesbian and other sexual orientations, within the context of society. The 
term "gender" does not indicate any meaning different from the above. 
D. Any person who commits a crime against humanity as defined above 
shall suffer the main penalty of imprisonment for a specified number of 
years within a range from 15 to 30 years. When justified by the 
extreme gravity of the crime, especially where it results in deaths 
andlor serious bodily injuries, and by the individual circumstances of 
the convicted person, the Court may impose a term within a range from 
30 to 40 years. 
SEC. 6. 
Additional Penalties. 
In addition to the main penalty of 
imprisonment imposed above, the Court may order a commensurate fine under 
established criteria; andlor a forfeiture of proceeds, property and assets derived 
directly or indirectly from that crime, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide 
third parties. The Court shall also impose the corresponding accessory penalties 
under the Revised Penal Code, especially where the offender is a public officer. 
PART 3. SOME PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY 
SEC. 7. Non-Diminution of International Law. Nothing in this Act shall be 
interpreted as limiting or prejudicing in any way existing or developing rules of 
international law for purposes other than this Act. 
SEC. 8. 
Individual Criminal Responsibility. 
In addition to existing 
provisions in Philippine law on principles of criminal responsibility, the following 
principles shall also be applied: 
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A. The appropriate Philippine Courts shall have jurisdiction over natural 
persons pursuant to this Act. 
B. A person who commits a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court shall 
be individually responsible and liable for punishment in accordance 
with this Act. 
C. In accordance with this Act, a person shall be criminally responsible 
and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court 
if that person: 
1. Commits such a crime, whether as an individual, jointly with another 
or through another person, regardless of whether that other person 
is criminally responsible; 
2. 
Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in 
fact occurs or is attempted; 
For the purpose of facilitating the commission of such a crime, 
aids, abets or otherwise assists in its commission or its attempted 
commission, including providing the means for its commission; 
In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted 
commission of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a 
common purpose. Such contribution shall be intentional and shall 
either: 
3. 
4. 
(i) 
Be made with the aim of furthering the criminal activity or 
criminal purpose of the group, where such activity or 
purpose involves the commission of a crime within the 
jurisdiction of the Court; or 
Be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to 
commit the crime; 
(ii) 
5. 
In respect of the crime of genocide, directly and publicly incites 
others to commit genocide; 
Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences 
its execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does 
not occur because of circumstances independent of the person’s 
intentions. However, a person who abandons the effort to commit 
6. 
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the crime or otherwise prevents the completion of the crime shall 
not be liable for punishment under this Act for the attempt to 
commit that crime if that person completely and voluntarily gave up 
the criminal purpose. 
D. 
No provision in this Act relating to individual criminal responsibility 
shall affect the responsibility of States under international law. 
SEC. 9. Irrelevance of Official Capacity. This Act shall apply equally to all 
persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official 
capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or 
parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case 
exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Act, nor shall it, in and of 
itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. 
Immunities or special 
procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether 
under national or international law, other than the established constitutional 
immunity from suit of the Philippine President during hislher tenure, shall not bar 
the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person. 
SEC. 10. Responsibility of Commanders and Other Superiors. In addition to 
other grounds of criminal responsibility for crimes defined and penalized under this Act: 
A. A military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander 
shall be criminally responsible for such crimes committed by forces 
under his or her effective command and control, or effective authority 
and control as the case may be, as a result of his or her failure to 
exercise control properly over such forces, where: 
1. That military commander or person either knew or, owing to the 
circumstances at the time, should have known that the forces 
were committing or about to commit such crimes; and 
That military commander or person failed to take all necessary 
and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or 
repress their commission or to submit the matter to the 
competent authorities for investigation and prosecution. 
2. 
B. With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in 
paragraph 4, a superior shall be criminally responsible for such crimes 
committed by subordinates under his or her effective authority and 
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such subordinates, where: 
control, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over 
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1. The superior either knew, or , owing to the circumstances at the 
time, should have known that the subordinates were committing 
or about to commit such crimes; and 
2. The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable 
measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their 
commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities 
for investigation and prosecution. 
SEC. 1 I. 
Non-Applicability of Statute of Limitations. 
The crimes defined 
and penalized under this Act, their prosecution, and the execution of sentences 
imposed on their account, shall not be subject to any statute of limitations. 
SEC. 12. Superior Orders. The fact that a crime defined and penalized 
under this Act has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a 
government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that 
person of criminal responsibility unless: 
A. The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the 
government or the superior in question; 
B. The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and 
C. The order was not manifestly unlawful. 
For the purposes of this section, orders to commit genocide or crimes against 
humanity are manifestly unlawful. 
PART 4. PROVISIONS FOR VICTIMS AND WITNESSES 
SEC. 13. Protection of Victims and Witnesses. In addition to existing 
provisions in Philippine law and procedural rules for protection of victims and 
witnesses, the following measures shall be undertaken: 
A. Philippine courts shall take appropriate measures to protect the safety, 
physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims 
and witnesses. In so doing, the Court shall have regard to all relevant 
factors, including age, gender, and health, and the nature of the crime, 
in particular, but not limited to, where the crime involves sexual or 
gender violence or violence against children. The Prosecution shall 
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take such measures particularly during the investigation and 
prosecution of such crimes. These measures shall not be prejudicial to 
or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and impartial 
trial. 
B. As an exception to the general principle of public hearings, the Court 
may, to protect the victims and witnesses or an accused, conduct any 
part of the proceedings in camera or allow the presentation of evidence 
by electronic or other special means. In particular, such measures shall 
be implemented in the case of a victim of sexual violence or a child who 
is a victim or is a witness, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, 
having regard to all the circumstances, particularly the views of the 
victim or witness. 
C. Where the personal interests of the victims are affected, the Court shall 
permit their views and concerns to be presented and considered at 
stages of the proceedings determined to be appropriate by the Court in 
a manner which is not prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the 
accused and a fair and impartial trial. Such views and concerns may be 
presented by the legal representatives of the victims where the courts 
consider it appropriate in accordance with the established rules of 
procedure and evidence. 
D. Where the disclosure of evidence or information pursuant to this Act 
may lead to the grave endangerment of the security of a witness or his 
or her family, the Prosecution may, for the purposes of any proceedings 
conducted prior to the commencement of the trial, withhold such 
evidence or information and instead submit a summary thereof. Such 
measures shall be exercised in a manner which is not prejudicial to or 
inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and impartial trial. 
SEC. 14. Reparafions to Vicfims. In addition to existing provisions in 
Philippine law and procedural rules for reparations to victims, the following 
measures shall be undertaken: 
A. The Court shall follow principles relating to reparations to, or in respect 
of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. On 
this basis, in its decision, the Court may, either upon request or on its 
own motion in exceptional circumstances, determine the scope and 
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extent of any damage, loss and injury to, or in respect of, victims and 
will state the principles on which it is acting. 
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B. The Court may make an order directly against a convicted person 
specifying appropriate reparations to, or in respect of, victims, including 
restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. 
C. Before making an order under this section, the Court may invite and 
shall take account of representations from or on behalf of the convicted 
person, victims or other interested persons. 
D. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prejudicing the rights of 
victims under national or international law. 
PART 5. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS 
SEC. 15. Relationship with lnfernational Law. In the application and 
interpretation of this Act, Philippine Courts shall be guided by the following 
instruments, developments and references in international law: 
A. The 1949 Geneva Conventions I-IV and their 1977 Additional Protocols 
I & II; 
B. The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in 
the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1999 Second Protocol; 
C. Customary international humanitarian law; 
D. The 1948 Genocide Convention; 
E. The 2000 Optional Protocol to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of 
the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict; 
F. 
The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, its 
Elements of Crimes, and its Rules of Procedure and Evidence; 
G. 
International criminal law jurisprudence from various international 
criminal tribunals; 
H. Relevant and applicable international human rights instruments and 
jurisprudence, mainly from the United Nations system; and 
Teachings of the most highly qualified publicists and authoritative 
commentaries on the foregoing sources as subsidiary means for the 
determination of rules of law. 
J. 
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SEC. 16. Relationship with Military Law. The application of military law to 
persons subject to military law for acts which may be constitutive of crimes under 
this Act shall be without prejudice to the investigation, prosecution and trial of 
said persons for crimes under this Act. 
PART 6. JURISDICTION AND COURTS 
SEC. 17. Universal Jurisdiction. 
The State shall exercise jurisdiction 
over persons, whether military or civilian, suspected or accused of the crimes 
defined and penalized in this Statute, including Philippine forces on peace- 
keeping, combat or similar missions abroad, no matter where these crimes 
occurred, even if they took place in the territory of another state, involved 
suspects or victims who are not nationals or residents of the State, or posed no 
direct threat to the State’s own particular security interests. 
However, in any of the latter cases, i.e. if the crimes took place in the 
territory of another state, involved suspects or victims who are not nationals or 
residents of the State, or posed no direct threat to the State’s own particular 
security interests, the relevant Philippine national authorities may dispense with 
prosecuting a crime punishable under this Act and in lieu thereof transfer 
suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international 
court, if any, or to another state which may prosecute or be prosecuting the crime 
due to some link with that state. 
SEC. 18. Philippine Courts, Prosecutors and Investigators. The Regional 
Trial Courts of the Philippines shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over 
the international crimes punishable under this Act. Their judgments may be 
appealed or elevated to the Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court under 
the existing system of jurisdiction of Philippine courts. 
The appropriate instrumentalities of the State, namely the Supreme Court, 
the Department of Justice and the Commission on Human Rights, shall 
respectively designate special courts, prosecutors and investigators to 
investigate, prosecute and try, as the case may be, crimes under this Act. The 
special courts refer to designated branches of the Regional Trial Court and 
designated divisions of the Court of Appeals. 
The State shall ensure that judges, prosecutors and investigators, 
especially those designated for purposes of this Act, receive effective training in 
human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. 
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PART 7. FINAL PROVISIONS 
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SEC. 19. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees and issuances, 
executive orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Statute are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 20. Separability Clause. If, for any reason or reasons, any part or 
provision of this Statute shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts 
or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full 
force and effect. 
SEC. 21. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in two national newspapers of general circulation. This publication 
shall not be later seven (7) days after the approval hereof. 
Approved, 
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