WITHDRAWAL NOTICE
What International Criminal Court ruling means
Sarah McGibbon details the main issues in the High Court in Pretoria’s judgment
The High Court in Pretoria’s judgment in the litigation challenging the procedural aspects of the government’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) dealt with four main issues. Was parliamentary approval required before the notice of withdrawal could be delivered to the UN? Was prior repeal of the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act required before delivery of the notice to the UN? Was the delivery of the notice to the UN without prior consultation with Parliament irrational? Does the withdrawal from the Rome Statute breach the state’s obligations under s7(2) of the Constitution to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights? On the first question, the high court held that the national executive requires prior parliamentary approval to withdraw from an international agreement. The national executive, thus, did not have the power to deliver a notice of withdrawal to the UN...
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