Justice Department revokes ICC withdrawal bill
The Department of Justice has taken another step to comply with an order from the North Gauteng High Court, declaring South Africa’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) unconstitutional.
Gauteng Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo ruled that government should have consulted Parliament before issuing the notice of withdrawal.
The Justice Department’s spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga says they have now withdrawn the bill, in order to comply with the court order.
“Minister Faith Muthambi, in her capacity as the acting Minister of Justice and Correctional Services submitted a withdrawal letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, to withdraw the repeal bill on the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court. This is not an indication of us abandoning our intention to withdraw from the ICC, it is to comply with the procedural aspects of the court judgement,” says Mhaga.
He adds that South Africa intends to start the process again by consulting Parliament before notifying the ICC of its withdrawal.
The DA’s James Selfe says they are satisfied with the decision.
“We think that we need to have long and serious discussion about the advantages and the disadvantages of the ICC. We do not want to be cast with states that do not want to be part of the ICC, because our foreign policy should be based on Nelson Mandela’s vision of a universal regard for human rights in South Africa,” he says.
South Africa has been summoned to the ICC next month to explain why it allowed President Omar al-Bashir to leave South Africa, without handing him over to ICC when he attended the African Union Summit in June 2015.