Related documents
- Is commenced by Commencement of the Geneva Conventions Act, 2003

Geneva Conventions Act, 2003
Act 15 of 2003
- Published in Government Gazette 3109 on 18 December 2003
- Assented to on 28 November 2003
- Commenced on 1 October 2004 by Commencement of the Geneva Conventions Act, 2003
- [This is the version of this document from 18 December 2003 and includes any amendments published up to 7 February 2025.]
1. Definitions
In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates -“Conventions” means the First Convention, the Second Convention, the Third Convention and the Fourth Convention;“court” does not include a court martial or other military court;“First Convention” means the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, done at Geneva on 12 August 1949, the text of which Convention is set out in Schedule 1;“Fourth Convention” means the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva on 12 August 1949, the text of which Convention is set out in Schedule 4;“protected internee” means a person protected by the Fourth Convention (including a person so protected by virtue of Protocol I) and interned in Namibia;“protected prisoner of war” means a person protected by the Third Convention or a person who is a prisoner of war for the purposes of Protocol I;“protecting power”, in relation to a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee, means the power or organization which is carrying out, in the interests of the power of which such prisoner or internee is a national, or of whose forces such prisoner or internee is, or was at any material time, a member, the duties assigned to protecting powers under the Third Convention, the Fourth Convention or Protocol I, as the case may be;“Protocol I” means the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1), done at Geneva on 10 June 1977, the text of which Protocol is set out in Schedule 5;[This should be “Protocol I”, with a Roman numeral.]“Protocol II” means the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), done at Geneva on 10 June 1977, the text of which Protocol is set out in Schedule 6;“Second Convention” means the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, done at Geneva on 12 August 1949, the text of which Convention is set out in Schedule 2;“Third Convention” means the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, done at Geneva on 12 August 1949, the text of which Convention is set out in Schedule 3.2. Punishment of grave breaches of Conventions and Protocol I
3. Court may determine whether person is a protected prisoner of war
4. Notice of trial of protected prisoners of war and internees to be served on protecting power and others
5. Legal representation of prisoners of war
6. Appeals by protected prisoners of war and internees
Where a protected prisoner of war or a protected internee has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two years or more, the time allowed within which such prisoner or internee may give notice of appeal or notice of his or her application for leave to appeal to the High Court or the Supreme Court of Namibia, as the case may be, must, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law contained, be not less than the period extending from the date of his or her conviction or, in the case of an appeal against sentence, of his or her sentence to the expiration of 10 days after the date on which he or she receives a notice in writing given by the officer or other person in charge of the prison or place in which he or she is confined or interned that the protecting power has been notified of his or her conviction and sentence.7. Reduction of sentence and custody for protected prisoners of war and internees
8. Prevention of abuse of Red Cross and other emblems, signs, signals, identity cards, insignia and uniforms
9. Regulations
The Minister of Defence may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing matters -10. Short title and commencement
This Act is called the Geneva Conventions Act, 2003, and comes into operation on a date to be fixed by the Minister of Defence by notice in the Gazette.[The Schedules omit the Preambles to all of the Conventions, although the Preambles to the Protocols are included. The Government Gazette does not follow the formatting of the Conventions. For paragraphs, the Conventions use numbers in brackets rather than numbers followed by a full stop (for example, “(1)” instead of “1.”); the Government Gazette is inconsistent on this point. . The Conventions also italicise subparagraph letters (for example, “(a)”), whereas the GovernmentGazette does not. ][The Conventions use typical American format for dates (for example, August 12, 1949), while the Protocols use typical British format (for example, 12 August 1949). The GovernmentGazette uses the British format for dates throughout the Conventions and the Protocols.][The Conventions use commas in numbers which are larger than hundreds (for example, “2,000”) whereas the GovernmentGazette uses a space rather than a comma (for example, “2 000”).][The formatting of the Government Gazette is reproduced here.][The Swiss Federal Council (ie the Swiss government) is the depository for the Geneva Conventions. The original texts of the Conventions and Protocols were sourced on the website of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs. See <https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/fr/dfae/politique-exterieure/droit-international-public/traites-internationaux/depositaire/protection-des-victimes-de-la-guerre.html>; clicking on the links to the individual conventions or protocols will provide the option of downloading the treaty in French or English ("Anglais").]History of this document
01 October 2004
Commenced by
Commencement of the Geneva Conventions Act, 2003
18 December 2003 this version
28 November 2003
Assented to
Cited documents 3
Act 3
1. | Legal Practitioners Act, 1995 | 255 citations |
2. | Legal Aid Act, 1990 | 73 citations |
3. | Namibia Red Cross Act, 1991 | 9 citations |
Documents citing this one 5
Gazette 3
1. | Namibia Government Gazette dated 2003-12-18 number 3109 | |
2. | Namibia Government Gazette dated 2004-10-01 number 3290 | |
3. | Namibia Government Gazette dated 2017-10-27 number 6451 |
Act 1
1. | Witness Protection Act, 2017 | 9 citations |
Law Reform Report 1
1. | Report on the Domestication of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment |