Australia

War Crimes Amendment Act 1988

An Act to amend the War Crimes Act 1945

5. Sections 3 to 14, inclusive, of the Principal Act are repealed and the following section and Parts are substituted:

War crimes

"7. (1) A serious crime is a war crime if it was committed:

(a) in the course of hostilities in a war;

(b) in the course of an occupation;

(c) in pursuing a policy associated with the conduct of a war or with an
occupation; or

(d) on behalf of, or in the interests of, a power conducting a war or engaged in an occupation .

"(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a serious crime was not committed:

(a) in the course of hostilities in a war; or

(b) in the course of an occupation;

merely because the serious crime had with the hostilities or occupation a
connection (whether in time, in time and place, or otherwise) that was only
incidental or remote.

"(3) A serious crime is a war crime if it was:

(a) committed:

(i) in the course of political, racial or religious persecution; or

(ii) with intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such; and

(b) committed in the territory of a country when the country was involved in a war or when territory of the country was subject to an occupation.

"(4) Two or more serious crimes together constitute a war crime if:

(a) they are of the same or a similar character;

(b) they form, or are part of, a single transaction or event; and

(c) each of them is also a war crime by virtue of either or both of subsections (1) and (3).

Effect of sections 6 and 7

"8. (1) Subject to subsection 7 (2), nothing in section 6 or 7 limits the generality of anything else in that section.

"(2) An act may be a serious crime by virtue of one of more of subsections 6 (1), (3), (4) and (5), but not otherwise.

"(3) A serious crime may be a war crime by virtue of either or both of subsections 7 (1) and (3), but not otherwise.

"(4) Two or more serious crimes may together constitute a war crime by virtue of subsection 7 (4), but not otherwise.

Keywords

War crimes



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