Executive 'disregarded' people of SA in ICC withdrawal
5 December 2016
Pretoria - The executive disregarded the people of South Africa when it decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, the DA argued in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
“Government had to involve the public in such a fundamental matter involving human rights,” advocate Steven Budlender told the court.
Budlender argued that the executive was in such a rush to withdraw from the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, that it failed to call for public involvement. He said it had assumed for itself the authority to make such a decision.
The executive did not have a right to withdraw from treaties and only Parliament could make that decision.