The
prisoner of war shall be entitled to
assistance by one of his
prisoner comrades, to
defence by a qualified
advocate or
counsel of his own
choice, to the calling of
witnesses and, if he deems necessary, to the
services of a
competent interpreter. He shall be advised of these
rights by the
Detaining Power in
due time before the
trial.
Failing a
choice by the
prisoner of war, the
Protecting Power shall
find him an
advocate or
counsel, and shall have at least one
week at its
disposal for the
purpose. The
Detaining Power shall deliver to the said
Power, on
request, a
list of
persons qualified to present the
defence. Failing a
choice of an
advocate or
counsel by the
prisoner of war or the
Protecting Power, the
Detaining Power shall appoint a
competent advocate or
counsel to
conduct the
defence.
The
advocate or
counsel conducting the
defence on behalf of the
prisoner of war shall have at his
disposal a
period of two
weeks at least before the
opening of the
trial, as well as the necessary
facilities to prepare the
defence of the
accused. He may, in particular,
freely visit the
accused and
interview him in
private. He may also
confer with any
witnesses for the
defence,
including prisoners of war. He shall have the
benefit of these
facilities until the
term of
appeal or
petition has expired.
Particulars of the
charge or
charges on which the
prisoner of war is to be arraigned, as well as the
documents which are generally
communicated to the
accused by
virtue of the
laws in
force in the
armed forces of the
Detaining Power, shall be
communicated to the
accused prisoner of war in a
language which he understands, and in good
time before the
opening of the
trial. The same
communication in the same
circumstances shall be made to the
advocate or
counsel conducting the
defence on behalf of the
prisoner of war.
The
representatives of the
Protecting Power shall be entitled to attend the
trial of the
case, unless, exceptionally, this is held in
camera in the
interest of
State security. In such a
case the
Detaining Power shall advise the
Protecting Power accordingly.
