The South African government has revoked its intended withdrawal from the International Criminal Court. The decision came weeks after the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that the country’s move was unconstitutional and invalid,

The country’s Gauteng High Court ruled that only Parliament has the power to approve the withdrawal, and not President of Jacob Zuma and his cabinet. “In order to adhere to the said judgment‚ I hereby revoke the Instrument of Withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court with immediate effect‚” a document deposited to the United Nations by South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said.

Government sources on Thursday said Justice Minister Michael Masutha is set to appear in parliament at an undisclosed date to discuss the High Court ruling that found that the withdrawal was unconstitutional and invalid. In February the court ordered President Jacob Zuma‚ Nkoana-Mashabane and Masutha to revoke the notice of withdrawal.

This was after the main opposition Democratic Alliance approached the court last year to challenge Pretoria’s decision to withdraw from the ICC by notifying the UN of its intention to revoke its ratification of the Rome Statute‚ which established the ICC.

On 21 October 2016 Masutha had announced that South Africa had initiated the process of withdrawing from the ICC. The decision followed several court judgments that the state violated the law by not arresting war crimes-suspect and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir‚ who has been indicted by the ICC‚ during his African Union summit visit to South Africa in June 2015.

Source: APA