Double Jeopardy Prohibition

[Gulliver]

Category: Human Rights
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: [nation]Quelesh[/nation]

Description: The World Assembly,

APPALLED by the practice of double jeopardy, or trying an individual more than once for the same alleged offense;

CONVINCED that freedom from this unjust practice is a cornerstone of any fair criminal justice system;

SEEKING to put an end to this injustice;

hereby MANDATES the following, subject to any limitations existing in prior international law:

1. Once an individual has been finally acquitted or convicted, or a functional equivalent thereof, of a crime, member states shall not try that individual for the same alleged criminal act again, except in accordance with clause 2 of this resolution.

2. Member states may vacate an individual's conviction of a crime and grant the individual a new trial for that crime. If the individual is again convicted of the crime, the new sentence shall not be more severe than the old sentence, and any conditions of the old sentence that have been met shall count toward the completion of the new sentence.

3. Member states may choose to not pursue a retrial of an individual whose conviction of a crime has been vacated in accordance with clause 2. In such cases, the individual's criminal sentence for the crime must be immediately terminated.