Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsAct No. 48 of 1945 as amended
This compilation was prepared on 24 February 2010
taking into account amendments up to Act No. 4 of 2010
The text of any of those amendments not in force
on that date is appended in the Notes section
The operation of amendments that have been incorporated may
be
affected by application provisions that are set out in the Notes section
Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and
Publishing,
Attorney‑General's Department, Canberra
Contents
Part I--Preliminary 1
1............ Short title [see Note 1] ....................................................................... 1
2............ Commencement [see Note 1] .............................................................. 1
3............ Application ......................................................................................... 1
3A......... Application of the Criminal Code ...................................................... 2
Part II--Interpretation 3
4............ Effect of this Part ............................................................................... 3
5............ Interpretation ...................................................................................... 3
6............ Serious crimes ..................................................................................... 4
7............ War crimes .......................................................................................... 5
8............ Effect of sections 6 and 7 ................................................................... 6
Part III--War crimes 7
9............ War crime to be indictable offence ...................................................... 7
10.......... Punishment ......................................................................................... 7
11.......... Only Australian citizens or residents to be prosecuted ..................... 7
12.......... Who may prosecute ............................................................................ 8
13.......... Jurisdiction of courts and choice of law ............................................. 8
14.......... Objection to venue .............................................................................. 9
15.......... Effect of order for change of venue ................................................... 10
16.......... No defence of superior orders .......................................................... 11
17.......... Defence based on laws, customs and usages of war ......................... 11
18.......... Alternative verdicts .......................................................................... 11
19.......... Legal assistance ................................................................................. 12
20.......... Certain provisions enacted to avoid doubt ....................................... 13
21.......... Annual report ................................................................................... 13
Notes 15
Notes to the War Crimes Act 1945
Note 1
The War Crimes Act 1945 as shown in this consolidation comprises Act No. 48, 1945 amended as indicated in the Tables below.
For all relevant information pertaining to application, saving or transitional provisions see Table A.
Table of Acts
|
Act |
Number |
Date |
Date of commencement |
Application, saving or transitional provisions |
|
48, 1945 |
11 Oct 1945 |
11 Oct 1945 |
|
|
|
3, 1989 |
25 Jan 1989 |
25 Jan 1989 |
-- |
|
|
174, 1999 |
22 Dec 1999 |
22 Dec 1999 |
-- |
|
|
Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001 |
24, 2001 |
6 Apr 2001 |
S. 4 and Schedule 49: (a) |
S. 4 |
|
Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious and Organised Crime) Act (No. 2) 2010 |
4, 2010 |
19 Feb 2010 |
Schedule 10 (item 31): 20 Feb 2010 |
-- |
(a) The War Crimes Act 1945 was amended by Schedule 49 only of the Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001, subsection 2(1)(a) of which provides as follows:
(1) Subject to this section, this Act commences at the later of the following times:
(a) immediately after the commencement of item 15 of Schedule 1 to the Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000;
Item 15 commenced on 24 May 2001.
Table of Amendments
|
ad. = added or inserted am. = amended rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted |
|
|
Provision affected |
How affected |
|
Preamble............................. |
rs. No. 3, 1989 |
|
Part I |
|
|
Heading to Part I.................. |
ad. No. 3, 1989 |
|
S. 3...................................... |
rs. No. 3 ,1989 |
|
S. 3A................................... |
ad. No. 24, 2001 |
|
Part II |
|
|
Part II................................... |
ad. No. 3, 1989 |
|
Ss. 4-8................................ |
rs. No. 3, 1989 |
|
Part III |
|
|
Part III................................... |
ad. No. 3, 1989 |
|
S. 9...................................... |
rs. No. 3, 1989 |
|
|
am. No. 24, 2001; No. 4, 2010 |
|
Ss. 10-14............................ |
rs. No. 3, 1989 |
|
Ss. 15-21............................ |
ad. No. 3, 1989 |
|
S. 22.................................... |
ad. No. 3, 1989 |
|
|
rep. No. 174, 1999 |
Table A
Application, saving or transitional provisions
Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001 (No. 24, 2001)
(1) Subject to subsection (3), each amendment made by this Act applies to acts and omissions that take place after the amendment commences.
(2) For the purposes of this section, if an act or omission is alleged to have taken place between 2 dates, one before and one on or after the day on which a particular amendment commences, the act or omission is alleged to have taken place before the amendment commences.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to amendments made by this Act to the War Crimes Act 1945.