Panther 57
PROFESSIONAL
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2013
- Messages
- 2,536
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Brussels Declaration
Article 20 of the 1874 Brussels Declaration states: “A spy taken in the act shall be tried and treated according to the laws in force in the army which captures him.”
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule107_sectionb
Additional Protocol I
Article 46(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides:
Notwithstanding any other provision of the Conventions or of this Protocol, any member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict who falls into the power of an adverse Party while engaging in espionage shall not have the right to the status of prisoner of war and may be treated as a spy.
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule107_sectionb
Article 29 '. -- A person can only be considered a spy when, acting clandestinely or on false pretences, he obtains or endeavours to obtain information in the zone of operations of a belligerent with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.
Thus, soldiers not wearing a disguise who have penetrated into the zone of operations of the hostile army, for the purpose of obtaining information, are not considered spies. Similarly, the following are not considered spies: soldiers and civilians carrying out their mission openly, entrusted with the delivery of despatches intended either for their own army or for the enemy's army. To this class belong likewise persons sent in balloons for the purpose of carrying despatches and, generally, of maintaining communications between the different parts of an army or a territory."
The definition of a spy given in this Article remains completely valid since the Geneva Convention contains no similar provision. However, a spy is also a protected person in so far as he conforms to the definition given in Article 4 of the Fourth Convention. Under Article 5 [ Link ] of the Convention, the spy may nevertheless be deprived temporarily of certain rights, particularly the right of communication.
"' Article 30 '. -- A spy taken in the act shall not be punished without previous trial."
The Convention contains several provisions in this respect which extend the principle and make it precise. Thus Article 3 [ Link ] prohibits "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples".
Article 3 [ Link ] , although it applies only to armed conflicts not of an international character, contains rules of absolutely general application. The prohibition mentioned is, moreover, confirmed by Article 5 and Articles 64 -76.
It should also be noted that paragraph 2 of Article 68 authorizes the Occupying Power under certain conditions to inflict the death penalty on protected persons found guilty of espionage.
Article 20 of the 1874 Brussels Declaration states: “A spy taken in the act shall be tried and treated according to the laws in force in the army which captures him.”
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule107_sectionb
Additional Protocol I
Article 46(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides:
Notwithstanding any other provision of the Conventions or of this Protocol, any member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict who falls into the power of an adverse Party while engaging in espionage shall not have the right to the status of prisoner of war and may be treated as a spy.
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule107_sectionb
Article 29 '. -- A person can only be considered a spy when, acting clandestinely or on false pretences, he obtains or endeavours to obtain information in the zone of operations of a belligerent with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.
Thus, soldiers not wearing a disguise who have penetrated into the zone of operations of the hostile army, for the purpose of obtaining information, are not considered spies. Similarly, the following are not considered spies: soldiers and civilians carrying out their mission openly, entrusted with the delivery of despatches intended either for their own army or for the enemy's army. To this class belong likewise persons sent in balloons for the purpose of carrying despatches and, generally, of maintaining communications between the different parts of an army or a territory."
The definition of a spy given in this Article remains completely valid since the Geneva Convention contains no similar provision. However, a spy is also a protected person in so far as he conforms to the definition given in Article 4 of the Fourth Convention. Under Article 5 [ Link ] of the Convention, the spy may nevertheless be deprived temporarily of certain rights, particularly the right of communication.
"' Article 30 '. -- A spy taken in the act shall not be punished without previous trial."
The Convention contains several provisions in this respect which extend the principle and make it precise. Thus Article 3 [ Link ] prohibits "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples".
Article 3 [ Link ] , although it applies only to armed conflicts not of an international character, contains rules of absolutely general application. The prohibition mentioned is, moreover, confirmed by Article 5 and Articles 64 -76.
It should also be noted that paragraph 2 of Article 68 authorizes the Occupying Power under certain conditions to inflict the death penalty on protected persons found guilty of espionage.