Domestic implementation of international law
Republic of Botswana
Domestic Legislation | Resources and Links
Crimes Crime of Aggression / Crimes Agaisnt Peace
Botswana ratified the Kampala amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on crime of aggression on 04 June 2013 and, according to information provided by the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression, will adopt legislation incorporating the Kampala definition into domestic law. [See: Status of Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression (information as of 26 June 2015)]
Related news:Botswana - first African State to ratify Kampala amendments
The Global Campaign for the Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments (Principality of Liechtenstein, Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression), 04Jun13 [ENG]Botswana Ratifies ICC Amendment on Crime of Aggression
Africa Legal Aid, 19Apr13 [ENG]Statement by the Minister of Defense, Justice and Security of Botswana on the occasion of the Workshop on Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments (Botswana 15 & 16 April 2013)
Gaborone International Convention Centre, Botswana, 15Apr13 [ENG]Crimes Against Humanity
No provision.
Genocide
No provision.
War Crimes
The Geneva Conventions Act, 1970 (No. 28 of 1970).
Supplement F - Botswana Government Gazette Extraordinary, 26 August 1970.
The Red Cross Society of Botswana Act, 1968 (No. 4 of 1968).
Supplement B - Botswana Government Gazette, 01 March 1968.
The Geneva Conventions Act (Colonial Territories) Order in Council, 1959. UK Statutory Instruments, 1959, No. 1301, London.
Jurisdiction Geneva Conventions Act of 1970, Article 3:
Punishment of Offenders Against Conventions
3. (1) Any person, whatever his nationality, who, whether in or outside Botswana, commits, or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of, any such grave breach of any of the scheduled conventions as is referred to in the following articles respectively of those conventions, that is to say -
(a) article 50 of the convention set out in the First Schedule to this Act;
(b) article 51 of the convention set out in the Second Schedule to this Act;
(c) article 130 of the convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act; or
(d) article 147 of the convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act
shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction thereof -
(i) in the case of such a grave breach as aforesaid involving the wilful killing of a person protected by the convention in question, shall be sentenced to death or to imprisonment;
(ii) in the case of any other such grave breach as aforesaid, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.
(2) In the case of an offence under this section committed outside Botswana, a person may be proceeded against, indicted, tried and punished therefor in any place in Botswana as if the offence had been committed in that place.
(3) A Subordinate Court shall have no jurisdiction to try an offence under this section, and criminal proceedings for such an offence shall not be instituted except by or on behalf of the Attorney-General.
(4) If in proceedings uider this section in respect of a grave breach of any of the scheduled conventions any question arises under article 2 of such convention (which relates to the circumstances in which the convention applies) that question shall be determined by the President and a certificate purporting to set out any such determination and to be signed by or on behalf of the President shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be so signed without further proof, unless the contrary is shown.
(5) Charges of offences under this section shall not be triable by court-martial.The Geneva Conventions Act, 1970 (No. 28 of 1970).
Supplement F - Botswana Government Gazette Extraordinary, 26 August 1970.
The Geneva Conventions Act (Colonial Territories) Order in Council, 1959. UK Statutory Instruments, 1959, No. 1301, London.
International Criminal Court
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Botswana signed and ratified the Rome Statute on 08 September 2000.
Constitution of Botswana (1966). (As amended through 2002). [ENG]
(Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria). [Last accessed 16 November 2015]. [External Link to pdf]
Penal Code of Botswana, 1964 (Law No. 2 of 1964) (as amended up to Act No. 14 of 2005). [ENG]
(World Intellectual Property Organization). [Last accessed 16 November 2015]. [External Link]
Laws of Botswana.
(Official Website of the Attorney General's Chambers). [ENG]
[Last accessed 16Nov15]. [External Link]
Multilateral Treaties and Agreements to which Botswana is a Party. [ENG]
(Official Website of the Attorney General's Chambers). [Last accessed 16 November 2015]. [External Link]
Guide to Law Online: Republic of Botswana.
Law Library, U.S. Library of Congress. [Last accessed 16 November 2015] [External Link]
Law of Africa Collection.
University of Pretoria. [Last accessed 16 November 2015] [External Link]
African Human Rights Case Law Database.
(Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria). [Last accessed 16 November 2015]. [External Link]