Provisional arrest

Republic of South Africa

Implementation of the Geneva Conventions Act, 2012

CHAPTER 4
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Protected prisoners of war in custody

12. (1) The court before which a protected prisoner of war is brought for trial for any offence—

(a) may remand that protected prisoner into the custody of the South African 20 National Defence Force ;
(b) must remand that protected prisoner into the custody of the South African National Defence Force if that protected prisoner is in custody for a period of longer than three months ; or
(c) must order the protected prisoner to remain in custody of the South African 25 National Defence Force if the prisoner is acquitted in order to ensure that such prisoner does not forfeit his or her rights in terms of the Third Convention, the Fourth Convention or Protocol I.

(2) A protected prisoner of war who is in the custody of the South African National Defence Force must be granted the protection of the Third Convention or the Fourth 30 Convention, as the case may be.

Rome Statute

Article 92 Provisional arrest

1. In urgent cases, the Court may request the provisional arrest of the person sought, pending presentation of the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91.

2. The request for provisional arrest shall be made by any medium capable of delivering a written record and shall contain:

(a) Information describing the person sought, sufficient to identify the person, and information as to that person's probable location;

(b) A concise statement of the crimes for which the person's arrest is sought and of the facts which are alleged to constitute those crimes, including, where possible, the date and location of the crime;

(c) A statement of the existence of a warrant of arrest or a judgement of conviction against the person sought; and

(d) A statement that a request for surrender of the person sought will follow.

3. A person who is provisionally arrested may be released from custody if the requested State has not received the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91 within the time limits specified in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. However, the person may consent to surrender before the expiration of this period if permitted by the law of the requested State. In such a case, the requested State shall proceed to surrender the person to the Court as soon as possible.

4. The fact that the person sought has been released from custody pursuant to paragraph 3 shall not prejudice the subsequent arrest and surrender of that person if the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request are delivered at a later date.