Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Act, 2000

Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“act” includes omission and a reference to the doing of an act includes a reference to the making of an omission;

“the Act of 1965” means the Extradition Act, 1965 ;

“the Act of 2000” means the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention against Torture) Act, 2000 ;

“the Convention” means the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel done at New York on the 9th day of December, 1994, the text of which, in the English language, is, for convenience of reference, set out in the First Schedule to the Act;

“specialised agency” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 57 of the Charter of the United Nations;

“United Nations operation” means an operation established by the competent organ of the United Nations in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and conducted under United Nations authority and control where—

(a) the operation is for the purpose of maintaining or restoring international peace and security, or

(b) the Security Council or the General Assembly has declared, for the purposes of the Convention, that there exists an exceptional risk to the safety of the personnel participating in the operation,but does not include a United Nations operation authorised by the Security Council as an enforcement action under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations in which any of the personnel are engaged as combatants against organised armed forces and to which the law of international armed conflict applies;

a “United Nations worker” means a person who, in relation to an alleged offence, at the time of the alleged offence—

(a) is engaged or deployed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as a member of the military, police or civilian component of a United Nations operation,

(b) is, in his or her capacity as an official or expert on mission of the United Nations, a specialised agency of the United Nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency, present in an area where a United Nations operation is being conducted,

(c) is assigned, with the agreement of the competent organ of the United Nations, by a Government or intergovernmental organisation to carry out activities in support of the fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation,

(d) is engaged by the Secretary-General of the United Nations or by a specialised agency or by the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out such activities, or

(e) is deployed by a humanitarian non-governmental organisation or agency under an agreement with the Secretary-General of the United Nations or with a specialised agency or with the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out such activities.

(2) In any proceedings under this Act, where a question arises as to whether—

(a) a person is or was a United Nations worker, or

(b) an operation is or was a United Nations operation,

a certificate signed by, or by a person authorised by, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and stating any fact relating to the question shall be evidence of that fact.

(3) In this Act—

(a) a reference to any enactment shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act,

(b) a reference to a section or Schedule is a reference to a section or Schedule of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.