ICC withdrawal taken to top court

The DA has applied for direct access to the Constitutional Court to challenge the Cabinet decision to pull SA out of the International Criminal Court. The decision was unconstitutional and a breach of the Bill of Rights‚ the DA argued in papers filed with the Constitutional Court yesterday, says a BusinessLIVE report. It wants the court to declare the withdrawal notice and the Cabinet decision to issue it invalid; and to order the government to revoke it. The DA grounds for challenging the move are:

* The notice of withdrawal is in breach of section 231(2) of the Constitution‚ as it was delivered without first securing a resolution of Parliament authorising SA’s withdrawal from the Rome statute;

* It was unconstitutional and unlawful to deliver notice of withdrawal prior to Parliament having decided to repeal the Act.

* The notice of withdrawal was procedurally irrational‚ as it was delivered without any process of consultation with Parliament and the public.

* The notice of withdrawal was a breach of the state’s section 7(2) duty to respect‚ protect‚ promote and fulfil the rights contained in the Bill of Rights.

The DA said government acted with ‘haste and in antithesis with the democratic principles of transparency and consultation. This therefore forces us to ask the question: is the SA government committed to justice and human rights?’