PART IV - PROVISIONS RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

94 Person convicted or acquitted not to be tried again for same offence

A person who has been once tried by a Court of competent jurisdiction for an offence and convicted or acquitted of that offence shall, while such conviction or acquittal has not been reversed or set aside, not be liable to be tried again on the same facts for the same offence or any offence in respect of which he could have been convicted on the charge, or any count of the charge, of which he was acquitted and, if required by any Court to plead to an information or charge in respect of such an offence, may, instead of pleading to the information or charge, plead that he has already been convicted or acquitted of that offence, and the Court shall thereupon try whether that plea is true and only if it finds the plea to be untrue shall the Court require him to plead to the information or charge or to the count relating to that offence.

PART IV - PROVISIONS RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

98 How a previous conviction may be proved

(1) In any trial or other proceeding under this Act, a previous conviction in Nauru may be proved by a copy of the sentence or order certified as such under the hand of the Registrar or Clerk, as the case may be, of the Court in which the conviction was had together with evidence as to the identity of the accused person with the person so convicted, or by any other mode provided by any law for the time being in force.

(2) A certificate in the form prescribed by the Minister given under the hand of a person appointed by the Minister in that behalf who shall have compared the fingerprints of a person previously convicted shall be prima facie evidence of all facts therein set forth, provided that it is produced by the person who took the fingerprints of the accused.

(3) A previous conviction in any place outside Nauru may be proved by the production of a certificate purporting to be given under the hand of a police officer in the country where the conviction was had containing a copy of the sentence or order and the fingerprints or photographs of the fingerprints of the person so convicted, together with evidence that the fingerprints of the person so convicted are those of the accused person. Such a certificate shall be prima facie evidence of all facts therein set forth without proof that the officer purporting to sign it did in fact sign it, was a police officer and was empowered so to do.

Article 20
Ne bis in idem
1. Except as provided in this Statute, no person shall be tried before the Court with respect to conduct which formed the basis of crimes for which the person has been convicted or acquitted by the Court.
2. No person shall be tried by another court for a crime referred to in article 5 for which that person has already been convicted or acquitted by the Court.
3. No person who has been tried by another court for conduct also proscribed under article 6, 7 or 8 shall be tried by the Court with respect to the same conduct unless the proceedings in the other court:
(a) Were for the purpose of shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court; or
(b) Otherwise were not conducted independently or impartially in accordance with the norms of due process recognized by international law and were conducted in a manner which, in the circumstances, was inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice.