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CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. No. 6633
BY REPRESENTATIVES GOLEZ, DATUMANONG, RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSOR (M.), TAÑADA, DE VENECIA, ESCUDERO, LACSON, CHATTO, ABAYA, BICHARA, MARIANO, JOSON, ILAGAN, TUPAS AND REMULLA, PER COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 2220
AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW, GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, OPERATIONALIZING UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION, DESIGNATING SPECIAL COURTS, AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity”.
SEC. 2 Declaration of Principles and State Policies. – (a) The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to a policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with all nations.
(b) The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights, including the rights of indigenous cultural communities and other vulnerable groups.
(c) The State adopts the generally accepted principles of international law, including the Hague Conventions of 1907, the Geneva Conventions on the protection of victims of war and international humanitarian law, as part of the law of our nation.
(d) The most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level, in order to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus contribute to the prevention of such crimes, it being the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes.
(e) The State shall guarantee persons suspected or accused of grave crimes under international law all rights necessary to ensure that their trials will be fair and prompt in strict accordance with international law and standards for fair trials. It shall also protect victims, witnesses and their families, and provide appropriate redress to victims and their families.
(f) The State recognizes that the application of the provisions of this Act relative to war crimes or crimes against international humanitarian law shall not affect the legal status of the parties to the conflict.
CHAPTER II
DEFINITION OF TERMS
SEC. 3. For purposes of this Act, the term:
(a) “Apartheid” means inhumane acts committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.
(b) “Armed conflict” means a condition of open hostility between two (2) or more States or between a State and an aggressive force. It means any use of force or armed violence which gives rise, or may give rise, to a situation to which the Geneva Conventions of 1949, including their common Article 3, apply. It does not cover internal disturbances or tensions such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature. Armed conflict may be:
(1) “International armed conflict” means an armed conflict which may arise between two (2) or more States, including belligerent occupation.
(2) “Non-international armed conflict” means protracted armed violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups within a State.
(c) “Armed forces” means all organized armed forces, groups and units that belong to a party to an armed conflict which are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its subordinates. Such armed forces shall be subject to an internal disciplinary system which enforces compliance with international humanitarian law.
(d) “Attack directed against any civilian population” means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph (a) against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack.
(e) “Authority and control” means having the right or permission to act legally on another’s behalf and directing the management of policies of a person or over another.
(f) “Command and control” means the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commanding officer over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission. These are performed through an arrangement of personnel, equipment, communications, facilities, and procedures employed by a commander in planning, directing, coordinating, and controlling forces and operations in the accomplishment of the mission.
(g) “Dangerous forces” means forces, which when released as a result of attack, will cause severe damage and losses among the civilian population, such as those coming from dams, dikes, nuclear/hydro/electrical generating stations which must always bear the appropriate distinctive sign.
(h) “Deportation or forcible transfer of population” means force displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law.
(i) “Effective control over subordinates” means having the material ability to prevent and punish the commission of offences by such subordinates.
(j) “Enforced or involuntary disappearance of persons” means the arrest, detention, or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.
(k) “Enslavement” means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children.
(l) “Extermination” means the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia, the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of a part of a population.
(m) “Forced pregnancy” means the unlawful confinement of a woman to be forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law. This definition shall not in any way be interpreted as affecting national laws relating to pregnancy.
(n) “Hors de combat” means a soldier or a combatant who: (1) are in the power of an adverse party; (2) clearly express an intention to surrender; and (3) has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and is therefore incapable of defending himself/herself: Provided, That in any of these cases wherein he/she abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape, he/she may not be made the object of attack.
(o) “Military commander” means a commander in the armed forces of a State.
(p) “Military necessity” means the necessity of those measures which are indispensable to achieve a legitimate aim of the conflict and are not otherwise prohibited by international humanitarian law.
(q) “No quarter” means refusing to spare the life of anybody, even of persons manifestly unable to defend themselves or who clearly express their intention to surrender.
(r) “Perfidy” means acts which invite the confidence of an adversary to lead him/her to believe he/she is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflicts, with intent to betray the confidence. The following acts are examples of perfidy: (1) feigning an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce; (2) feigning surrender; (3) feigning incapacitation by wounds or sickness; (4) feigning civilian or noncombatant status; (5) feigning protective status by use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of a neutral or other State not party to the conflict; and (6) making improper use of the emblem of the Red Cross or Red Crescent.
(s) “Persecution” means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of identity of the group or collectivity.
(t) “Protected person” in an internal armed conflict means: (1) a person wounded, sick and shipwrecked, whether civilian or military; (2) a prisoner of war; (3) a civilian in the power of the aggressed party; (4) a person who, before the beginning of hostilities, was considered a stateless person or refugee under the relevant international instruments accepted by the parties to the conflict concerned or under the national legislation of the state of refuge or state of residence; (5) a member of the medical personnel assigned exclusively to medical purposes or to the administration of medical units or to the operation of medical transports; or (6) a member of the religious personnel who is exclusively engaged in the work of their ministry and attached to the armed forces of a party to the conflict, its medical units or medical transports and nonconfrontational, noncombatant military personnel carrying out functions similar to religious personnel. In a non-international armed conflict, a protected person means: (i) a person wounded, sick or shipwrecked whether, civilian or military; (ii) a person not taking active part in hostilities under the power of the adversary; or (iii) a member of the armed forces of the parties to the conflict who has laid down his/her arms or who does not possess any means of defense.
(u) “Torture” means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical, mental, psychological and pharmacological, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions.
CHAPTER III
CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW, GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
SEC. 4. War Crimes. – War crimes, or crimes against international humanitarian law (IHL), are hereby defined and penalized as follows:
(a) For the purpose of this Act, “war crimes” means:
(1) In case of an international armed conflict, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
(i) Willful killing;
(ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(iii) Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
(v) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
(vi) Transferring, directly or indirectly, by the occupying power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory; or unlawful confinement;
(vii) Taking of hostages;
(viii) Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power; and
(ix) Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or other protected persons.
(2) In case of a non-international armed conflict, serious violations of common Article 3 to the four (4) Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts committed against persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause:
(i) Violence to life and person, in particular, murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(ii) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
(iii) Taking of hostages; and
(iv) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable.
(3) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
(i) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
(ii) Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;
(iii) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions or Additional Protocol III in conformity with international law;
(iv) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
(v) Launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated;
(vi) Launching an attack against works or installations containing dangerous forces in the knowledge that such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects, and causing death or serious injury to body or health;
(vii) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives, or making non-defended localities or demilitarized zones the object of attack;
(viii) Killing or wounding a person in the knowledge that he/she is hors de combat, including a combatant who, having laid down his/her arms or no longer having means of defense, has surrendered at discretion;
(ix) Making improper use of a flag of truce, of the flag or the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions or other protective signs under international humanitarian law, resulting in death, serious personal injury or capture;
(x) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
(xi) Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind, or to removal of tissue or organs for transplantation, which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his/her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons;
(xii) Killing, wounding or capturing an adversary by resort to perfidy;
(xiii) Declaring that “no quarter” will be given;
(xiv) Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such destruction or seizure is imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;
(xv) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
(xvi) Ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand;
(xvii) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
(xviii) Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions or a serious violation of common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions;
(xix) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations;
(xx) Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols;
(xxi) Conscripting, enlisting or recruiting children under the age of eighteen (18) years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities;
(xxii) In an international armed conflict, compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent's service before the commencement of the war;
(xxiii) In an international armed conflict, declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party; and
(xxiv) Employing means of warfare which are prohibited under international law, including:
(aa) Poison or poisoned weapons;
(bb) Asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices;
(cc) Bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with hard envelopes which do not entirely cover the core or are pierced with incisions; and
(dd) Weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of the international law of armed conflict.
SEC. 5. Genocide. – For the purpose of this Act, “genocide” means any of the following acts with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, religious, social or any other similar stable and permanent group, such as:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
SEC. 6. Crimes Against Humanity. – For the purpose of this Act, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Willful killing;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, sexual orientation or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime defined in this Act;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid; and
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
CHAPTER IV
PENAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 7. Penalties. – Any person found guilty of violating Sections 4, 5 and 6 of this Act shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium period. When justified by the extreme gravity of the crime, especially where the commission of any of the crimes specified herein results in deaths and/or serious bodily injuries and considering the individual circumstances of the accused, the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed.
In addition to the penalty prescribed herein, the court may order a commensurate fine under established criteria; and/or a forfeiture of proceeds, property and assets derived directly or indirectly from that crime, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third (3rd) parties. The court shall also impose the corresponding accessory penalties under the Revised Penal Code, especially where the offender is a public officer.
CHAPTER V
SOME PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
SEC. 8. Individual Criminal Responsibility. – In addition to existing provisions in Philippine law on principles of criminal responsibility, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime defined in this Act if that person:
(a) Commits such a crime, whether as an individual, jointly with another or through another person, regardless of whether that other person is criminally responsible;
(b) Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact occurs or is attempted;
(c) For the purpose of facilitating the commission of such a crime, aids, abets or otherwise assists in its commission or its attempted commission, including providing the means for its commission;
(d) In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted commission of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common purpose. Such contribution shall be intentional and shall either:
(1) Be made with the aim of furthering the criminal activity or criminal purpose of the group, where such activity or purpose involves the commission of a crime defined in this Act; or
(2) Be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit the crime.
(e) In respect to the crime of genocide, directly and publicly incites others to commit genocide; and
(f) Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur because of circumstances independent of the person’s intentions. However, a person who abandons the effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevents the completion of the crime shall not be liable for punishment under this Act for the attempt to commit that crime if that person completely and voluntarily gave up the criminal purpose.
SEC. 9. Irrelevance of Official Capacity. – This Act shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a head of State or government, a member of a government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Act, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. However:
(a) Immunities or special procedural rules that may be attached to the official capacity of a person under Philippine law other than the established constitutional immunity from suit of the Philippine President during his/her tenure, shall not bar the court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person; and
(b) Immunities that may be attached to the official capacity of a person under international law may limit the application of this Act, but only within the bounds established under international law.
SEC. 10. Responsibility of Commanders and Other Superiors. – In addition to other grounds of criminal responsibility for crimes defined and penalized under this Act:
(a) A military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander shall be criminally responsible for such crimes committed by forces under his/her effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his/her failure to exercise control properly over such forces, where:
(1) That military commander or person either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the forces were committing or were about to commit such crimes; and
(2) That military commander or person failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his/her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
(b) With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in paragraph (a), a superior shall be criminally responsible for such crimes committed by subordinates under his/her effective authority and control, as a result of his/her failure to exercise control properly over such subordinates, where:
(1) The superior either knew, or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes; and
(2) The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his/her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
SEC. 11. Nonprescription. – The crimes and penalties defined under this Act shall not be subject to any prescription.
SEC. 12. Superior Orders. – The fact that a crime defined and penalized under this Act has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a government or a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:
(a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the government or the superior in question;
(b) The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and
(c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.
For the purposes of this section, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.
CHAPTER VI
PROTECTION OF VICTIMS AND WITNESSES
SEC. 13. Protection of Victims and Witnesses. – In addition to existing provisions in Philippine law for the protection of victims and witnesses, the following measures shall be undertaken:
(a) The court shall take appropriate measures to protect the safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses. In so doing, the court shall have regard of all relevant factors, including age, gender and health, and the nature of the crime, in particular, but not limited to, where the crime involves sexual or gender violence or violence against children. The prosecutor shall take such measures particularly during the investigation and prosecution of such crimes. These measures shall not be prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and to a fair and impartial trial;
(b) As an exception to the general principle of public hearings, the court may, to protect the victims and witnesses or an accused, conduct any part of the proceedings in camera or allow the presentation of evidence by electronic or other special means. In particular, such measures shall be implemented in the case of a victim of sexual violence or a child who is a victim or is a witness, unless otherwise ordered by the court, having regard to all the circumstances, particularly the views of the victim or witness;
(c) Where the personal interests of the victims are affected, the court shall permit their views and concerns to be presented and considered at stages of the proceedings determined to be appropriate by the court in a manner which is not prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and impartial trial. Such views and concerns may be presented by the legal representatives of the victims where the court considers it appropriate in accordance with the established rules of procedure and evidence; and
(d) Where the disclosure of evidence or information pursuant to this Act may lead to the grave endangerment of the security of a witness or his/her family, the prosecutor may, for the purposes of any proceedings conducted prior to the commencement of the trial, withhold such evidence or information and instead submit a summary thereof. Such measures shall be exercised in a manner which is not prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and to a fair and impartial trial.
SEC. 14. Reparations to Victims. – In addition to existing provisions in Philippine law and procedural rules for reparations to victims, the following measures shall be undertaken:
(a) The court shall follow principles relating to reparations to, or in respect of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. On this basis, in its decision, the court may, either upon request or on its own motion in exceptional circumstances, determine the scope and extent of any damage, loss and injury to, or in respect of, victims and will state the principles on which it is acting;
(b) The court may make an order directly against a convicted person specifying appropriate reparations to, or in respect of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation; and
(c) Before making an order under this section, the court may invite and shall take account of representations from or on behalf of the convicted person, victims or other interested persons.
Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prejudicing the rights of victims under national or international law.
CHAPTER VII
APPLICABILITY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND OTHER LAWS
SEC. 15. Applicability of International Law. – In the application and interpretation of this Act, Philippine courts shall be guided by the following instruments, developments and references in international law:
(a) The 1948 Genocide Convention;
(b) The 1949 Geneva Conventions I-IV and their 1977 Additional Protocols I, II and III;
(c) The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, its (First) Protocol and its 1999 Second Protocol;
(d) The 2000 Optional Protocol to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict;
(e) The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, its Elements of Crimes, and its Rules of Procedure and Evidence;
(f) The rules and principles of customary international humanitarian law;
(g) The judicial decisions of international courts and tribunals;
(h) Relevant and applicable international human rights instruments and jurisprudence, mainly from the United Nations system; and
(i) Teachings of the most highly qualified publicists and authoritative commentaries on the foregoing sources as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.
SEC. 16. Suppletory Application of the Revised Penal Code and Other General or Special Laws. – The provisions of the Revised Penal Code and other general or special laws shall have a suppletory application to the provisions of this Act.
CHAPTER VIII
JURISDICTION
SEC. 17. Jurisdiction. – Philippine courts shall have jurisdiction over persons, whether military or civilian, suspected or accused of the crimes defined in this Act, regardless of the nationality of the suspect or the accused, the nationality of the victims or where the crime was committed, and even if the act posed no direct threat to the State’s own particular security interests.
However, if the crime took place in the territory of another State, involved suspects, accused or victims who are not nationals or residents of the Philippines, or posed no direct threat to the State’s own particular security interests, the competent Philippine national authorities may dispense with prosecuting such a crime and, in lieu thereof, surrender the suspected or accused person to the competent international court, if any, or to another State which has made out a prima facie case.
SEC. 18. Philippine Courts, Prosecutors and Investigators. – The Regional Trial Courts of the Philippines shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over the international crimes punishable under this Act. Their judgments may be appealed or elevated to the Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court as provided by law.
The competent instrumentalities of the State, namely: the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights, and other law enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police shall respectively designate special courts, prosecutors and investigators to investigate, prosecute and try, as the case may be, crimes under this Act. The special courts refer to designated branches of the Regional Trial Court and designated divisions of the Court of Appeals.
The State shall ensure that judges, prosecutors and investigators, especially those designated for purposes of this Act, receive effective training in human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
CHAPTER IX
FINAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 19. Separability Clause. – If, for any reason or reasons, any part or provision of this Statute shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.
SEC. 20. Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential decrees and issuances, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Statute are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
SEC. 21. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,
O
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