Book ONE
General Provisions on Crimes and Punishments
Part One
Crimes
Chapter Five
Reasons for Rejecting the Characteristic of a Crime
Section Three
The Rejection of Material Ground and the Negation of Error
Physical Coercion and Force Majeur
Article (35):
A person is not deemed to have committed a crime if such an act which constituted the crime was committed under substantial compulsory pressure that is impossible to resist or due to force majeur, where in such case the compelling person11 is, responsible for the crime committed accordingly. This excludes murder and human torture, wherein the responsibility is not waived for both the compelled perpetrator and the compelling person thereof.
1. In addition to other grounds for excluding criminal responsibility provided for in this Statute, a person shall not be criminally responsible if, at the time of that person's conduct:
(d) The conduct which is alleged to constitute a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been caused by duress resulting from a threat of imminent death or of continuing or imminent serious bodily harm against that person or another person, and the person acts necessarily and reasonably to avoid this threat, provided that the person does not intend to cause a greater harm than the one sought to be avoided. Such a threat may either be:
(i) Made by other persons; or
(ii) Constituted by other circumstances beyond that person's control.