Belgium
Practice Relating to Rule 100. Fair Trial Guarantees
Belgium’s Law of War Manual (1983) refers to common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and prohibits the conviction of protected persons without a prior fair trial.
The manual further states that depriving a prisoner of war or other protected persons of the right to be tried by a regular court is a grave breach of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Belgium’s Penal Code (1867), as amended in 2003, provides:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
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8. depriving a prisoner of war, a civilian protected by the [1949 Geneva] Convention [IV] on the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict, or a person protected by [the 1977] Additional Protocols I and II to the … 1949 Geneva Conventions of his right to a fair and regular trial under the provisions of those instruments.
Belgium’s Law concerning the Repression of Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols (1993), as amended in 1999, provides that “denying a prisoner of war [or] a protected civilian person the right to a fair and impartial trial” constitutes a crime under international law.
Belgium’s Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law (1993), as amended in 2003, provides:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
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5. depriving a prisoner of war, a civilian protected by the [1949 Geneva] Convention [IV] on the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict, or a person protected by [the 1977] Additional Protocols I and II to the … 1949 Geneva Conventions of his right to a fair and regular trial under the provisions of those instruments.
At the CDDH, Belgium stated that the guarantees contained in Article 6 of the 1977 Additional Protocol II were based on customary international law and human rights law.