Witness protection - national procedures for ICC proceedings

Uganda

The International Criminal Court Act 2010

Part V – Domestic Procedures for Other Types of Co-operation

Locating or Identifying Persons of Things

46. Protection of witnesses.
(1) The applicable law with respect to compelling a person to appear before a Registrar under section 44 or section 45 and to give evidence or answer questions, or to produce documents or other articles, is the law specified in subsection (2); and that law applies with any necessary modifications.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the applicable law is the law of Uganda that applies to the giving of evidence or the answering of questions or the production of documents or other articles on the hearing of a charge against a person for an offence against the law of Uganda.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as requiring a person to give evidence or answer any question or produce any document or article that the person could not be compelled to give or answer or produce in an investigation being conducted by the prosecutor or in any proceedings before the ICC.

Part V – Domestic Procedures for Other Types of Co-operation

58. Protecting victims and witnesses and preserving evidence.
(1) Where the ICC requests –

(a) assistance under article 93(1)(j) of the Statute in protecting victims and witnesses or preserving evidence;

(b) assistance under article 19(8), or paragraphs (2) or (3) of article 56, in preserving evidence,

the Minister shall give authority for the request to proceed and transmit the request to the appropriate Ugandan agency if the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the assistance requested is not prohibited by Uganda law.

(2) Where the Minister authorises and transmits the request under subsection (1), the appropriate Ugandan agency shall without delay –

(a) use its best endeavours to give effect to the request;

(b) make such report on its endeavours as it considers to be appropriate in the circumstances; and

(c) deliver the report to the Minister.

Rome Statute

Article 93 Other forms of cooperation

1. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and under procedures of national law, comply with requests by the Court to provide the following assistance in relation to investigations or prosecutions:

(j) The protection of victims and witnesses and the preservation of evidence;