Punishment of offenders against conventions

1 Grave breaches of scheduled conventions.

(1) Any person, whatever his nationality, who, whether in or outside the United Kingdom, commits, or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of [ a grave breach of any of the scheduled conventions or the first protocol shall be guilty of an offence]. ..

(1A)For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section

(a) a grave breach of a scheduled convention is anything referred to as a grave breach of the convention in the relevant Article, that is to say
(i)in the case of the convention set out in the First Schedule to this Act, Article 50; (ii)in the case of the convention set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, Article 51; (iii)n the case of the convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act, Article 130 ;
(iv)in the case of the convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, Article 147 ; and

(b)a grave breach of the first protocol is anything referred to as a grave breach of the protocol in paragraph 4 of Article 11, or paragraph 2, 3 or 4 of Article 85, of the protocol.

(2) In the case of an offence under this section committed outside the United Kingdom, a person may be proceeded against, indicted, tried and punished therefor in any place in the United Kingdom as if the offence had been committed in that place, and the offence shall, for all purposes incidental to or consequential on the trial or punishment thereof, be deemed to have been committed in that place.

1A Trial and punishment of offences under s.1

(1) The following provisions apply in relation to offences under section 1 of this Act.

(2) The offence is triable only on indictment.

(3) Proceedings for an offence shall not be instituted
(a) in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General ;
(b) in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.

(4) If the offence is not committed in the United Kingdom
(a) proceedings may be taken, and
(b) the offence may for incidental purposes be treated as having been committed,
in any place in the United Kingdom.

(5) A person convicted of an offence involving murder shall be dealt with as for an offence of murder.
In this subsection "murder" means the killing of a person in such circumstances as would constitute murder if committed in the part of the United Kingdon in which the proceedings are brought.

(6) In any other case a person convicted of an offence is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years.

Article 8
War crimes
2. For the purpose of this Statute, "war crimes" means:
(a) Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
(i) Wilful killing;
(ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
(v) Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;
(vi) Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
(vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
(viii) Taking of hostages.