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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA

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Non-compliance with a twist: Some thoughts on the ICC's decision on South Africa's failure t

As reported last week, Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) found that South Africa had failed to meet its obligation to arrest and surrender Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir (Al-Bashir) when he attended the African Union (AU) Summit in South Africa in June 2015. Al-Bashir is suspected of various crimes under the ICC's substantive jurisdiction, including genocide. The decision was highly anticipated and the finding of non-compliance on the part of South Africa widely expected. The judgment addresses complex and controversial legal issues involving immunity, non-member states, state cooperation and United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referrals. Other notable

ICC rules South Africa in breach of the Rome Statute by failing to arrest President Al-Bashir

As widely expected, the ICC today found that South Africa had failed to comply with it's obligations under the Rome Statute through its failure to arrest and surrender Omar Al-Bashir in June 2015. However, a more surprising aspect of the decision is the fact that, in the Court's view, a referral to the Assembly of State Parties or the UN Security Council was not warranted in view of the specifics facts surrounding the case. In this regard, the Chamber reasoned broadly as follows [para. 139]: "In sum, the Chamber considers of significance that South Africa is the first State Party to seek from the Court a final legal determination on the extent of its obligations to execute a request for arre

Zambia to remain a member of the ICC

It is reported that Zambia will not withdraw from the ICC. This comes of the back of a national consultative process concerning Zambia's withdrawal from the Court. It is particularly striking that 91,43% of petitioners were opposed to Zambia's withdrawal. This goes to show that - while there still seems to be support for mass withdrawal among various African states' political representatives (made evident through the AU's earlier non-binding recommendation to withdraw) - such support may not be shared by members of the general public. One wonders what result a similar process would yield in South Africa? It seems that the South African government is now firmly at the forefront of the anti-IC

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