Provisional arrest for ICC proceedings - national procedures

Uganda

The International Criminal Court Act 2010

Part IV – Arrest and Surrender of Person to ICC

Provisional Arrest in Urgent Cases

29. Provisional arrest.
(1) Where the Minister receives a request from the ICC for provisional arrest under article 92 of the Statute, he or she shall, if satisfied that the request is supported by the information required by paragraph(2) or article 92 of the Statute, transmit the request and any supporting documents of the Inspector General of Police with a direction for the arrest of the person.
(2) The Minister shall transmit a copy of the direction to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(3) Where the Inspector General of Police receives a direction from the Minister in accordance with subsection (1) he or she shall instruct the police to carry out the direction.

(4) After carrying out the direction, the Inspector General of Police shall notify the Minster and the Director of Public Prosecutions accordingly.

(5) Where a person has been provisionally arrest under this section, and the Minister receives the formal request for arrest and surrender as provided for in article 91 of the Statute, the Minister shall immediately send a notice to the Registrar and proceed with the transmission of the request in accordance with section 26.

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.