South Africa’s Withdrawal from The Rome Statute: A Note on Democratic Alliance v. Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and Others

Abstract

Abstract Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are having a turbulent relationship, since the implication of the Sudanese President Omar A-Bashir by the Court with the atrocities committed in the Darfur region. The attitude of African countries against the Court has led to some rampaging voices, calling for an African solidarity to exit the ICC. Few African countries, including South Africa, have stepped to the plate responding to the call. However, the process has been coated with uncertainties, mostly leading to constitutional power wrangle among the constitutional branches of governance. The High Court of South Africa, for instance, has been the ‘mediator’ when the executive and legislature clashed over South Africa’s pursuance to withdraw from the ICC. Thus, this commentary revisits the case of Democratic Alliance v. Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and Others, and exposes the power ‘wrangle’ between the executive and legislature when South Africa engineered her failed exit from the ICC.