Law amending the Military Criminal Code (Loi nº 15/023 du 31 décembre 2015 modifiant la Loi nº 024-2002 du 18 novembre 2002, portant Code pénal militaire)

The publication of the 2010 Mapping Exercise report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights—which documented violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1993-2003—played a key role in prompting human rights activists to call on the government to take urgent and significant measures to punish the perpetrators of the international crimes described in the report. In response to this advocacy, members of parliament in the Democratic Republic of the Congo discussed amending three laws: the Military Criminal Code, the Procedural Code, and the Criminal Code of 1940.

This law, which amended the Military Criminal Code, was the second law adopted on December 31, 2015 and reflects the desire of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to better protect civilians in times of mass atrocities or war by giving civilian courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Both civilian and military courts can prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. However, this is only possible if the crimes were not committed in times of war. Otherwise, only military courts can prosecute. Consequently, in most cases, civilian courts will have no jurisdiction over such crimes, which are more likely to occur during times of armed conflict.