Article 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.
Article 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 the
right at any time to object to the interpreter and to ask for his
replacement.
Article73.
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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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. |