DA notes serious concerns with aspects of the “Rome Statute Repeal” Bill
The International Crimes Bill 37 of 2017 was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday night and seeks to repeal the Implementation of the Rome Statute Act and withdraw South Africa from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
While it seems that the Bill pays lip service to South Africa’s role as a leader in the African context, and as a champion of dispute resolution, the DA is currently combing through and have made the following observations:
Having previously attempted to withdraw from the ICC, with no alternative for the prosecution of international crimes being presented, the ANC is now seeking to confer jurisdiction over these crimes on domestic courts;
Jurisdiction is limited to crimes committed in SA, crimes where the accused or a victim is a South African citizen or resident, and crimes where the accused is present in the country after the commission of the crime;
In order for any prosecution contemplated by this Bill to even begin, a warrant of arrest must be applied for by the National Prosecutor, or an authorised prosecutor. This already introduces administrative delays that may allow an accused time to flee the state. Vesting this discretion in a political appointee, like the National Director of Public Prosecutions, currently Shaun Abrahams who we know to be a lapdog for President Zuma’s cabal of cronies and cadres, is a recipe for disaster;