Act of Parliament · As enacted · 3 parts
Geneva Conventions Act 2006
Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
This Act may be cited as the Geneva Conventions
Act, No 4 of 2006 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may by Order published in the Gazette appoint (hereinafter referred to as the “appointed date”).
Different dates may be appointed for the different
Parts of the Act to come into operation.
PART 1
PRELIMINARY
Any person, whether a citizen of Sri Lanka or not, who within or outside Sri Lanka —
commits or attempts to commit; or
aids, abets, conspires or procures the commission by any other person of, a grave breach in terms of the relevant Articles of the
Conventions as are set out in Schedule I, Schedule II,
Schedule III and Schedule IV to this Act and are also enumerated in subsection (2) of this section, shall be guilty of an offence.
For the purposes of subsection (1)—
a grave breach of the First Convention is a breach of that Convention involving an act referred to in Article 50 of that Convention committed against persons or property protected by that Convention;
a grave breach of the Second Convention is a breach of that Convention involving an act referred to in
Article 51 of that Convention committed against person or property protected by that Convention ;
a grave breach of the Third Convention is a breach of that Convention involving an act referred to in
Article 130 of that Convention committed against persons or property protected by that Convention ;
and
a grave breach of the Fourth Convention is a breach of that Convention involving an act referred to in
Article 147 of that Convention committed against persons or property protected by that Convention.
For the purposes of this section “aids”, “abets”,
“conspires” and “procures” shall have the same meaning as is assigned to them in the Penal Code (Chapter 19).
Any person convicted of an offence under this section shall—
where the offence involves the wilful killing of a person protected by any of the aforesaid
Conventions, be punished with death; and
for any other offence, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not exceed twenty years.
s 3Attorney-General to file indictment
Subject to the provisions of section 6, every prosecution for an offence in terms of section 2 shall be by way of direct indictment filed by the Attorney-General.
Every offence under this Act shall be triable by the High Court established under Article 154P of the
Constitution for the Western Province, holden in Colombo.
Every offence under this Act shall be a congnizable offence and a non-bailable offence within the meaning and for the purposes of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No.
15 of 1979.
A person referred to in Article 5 of the Third Convention may apply to the High Court for a declaration that he has the status of a protected prisoner or war.
The High Court may, where it is satisfied that the presence of the public or any other person specified by Court, as the case may be, would be contrary to the interests of justice or would not be in the public interest, order the exclusion from any sitting of the Court, the public or any person specified by the Court.
s 5Proof of application of Convention
Where in the course of any proceedings under this
Act in respect of a grave breach of any of the Conventions a question arises under section 2 of this Act relating to the circumstances in which that Convention applies in relation to the aforesaid breach, a Certificate under the hand of the
Secretary to the Ministry of the Minister in charge of the subject of Foreign Affairs stating that a Convention applies in relation to a particular situation, shall be admissible in evidence and shall be prima facie evidence of such fact.
s 6Status of Court Martial proceedings in relation to this Act
The provisions of the Army Act (Chapter 357), the
Navy Act (Chapter 358) and the Air Force Act (Chapter 359), relating to the trial by a Court Martial in terms of the provisions of the aforesaid Acts of persons who commit civil offences, shall, for the purposes of jurisdiction of courts martial convened in Sri Lanka under any of the aforesaid
Acts, continue to apply in the same manner as provided for in the respective Acts, as if the provisions of this Act had not been enacted.
Part II
Legal Proceedings in Respect of Protected Persons
Part III
Abuse of the Red Cross and Other Emblems
Part IV