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La visión de PGA es contribuir a la creación de un orden internacional basado en el imperio de la ley para un mundo más equitativo, seguro, sostenible y democrático.

PGA Conducted A Field Mission To Advocate For Reversing The Withdrawal Of South Africa From The Rome Statute System

PGA Conducted A Field Mission To Advocate For Reversing The Withdrawal Of South Africa From The Rome Statute System

On 10-13 March 2020, PGA conducted a field mission to South Africa to engage in Consultations with Parliamentarians and Government officials on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the threatened withdrawal by South Africa from the Rome Statute of the ICC.

During the mission, PGA Senior Legal Officer held bilateral meetings with the Deputy Minister of Justice, the Chairman of the Committee on Justice and Correctional Services and several members of the ruling party, African National Congress (ANC), as well as opposition parties. The main objectives of the mission were:

  • To inquire about tendencies regarding the withdrawal of South Africa from the Rome Statute of the ICC.

  • To advocate for the removal of the Rome Statute withdrawal clause from the policy of the governing party, while explaining the importance of the membership of South Africa in the Rome Statute system

  • To expand the PGA membership in South Africa and facilitate a creation of a PGA National Group

The discussions touched upon the topics which have been at the heart of the reasons put forward by South Africa to withdraw from the Rome Statute. As such, the meetings led to interactive exchanges, offering opportunities to address several inaccurate conceptions regarding the ICC. The discussions also confirmed that the consideration of the International Crimes Bill, which has been introduced to set the withdrawal in motion, does not appear to be within the priorities of the Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, despite the recent revival of the Bill by the Parliament. The mission also enabled to determine the best strategies to move forward towards reversing the withdrawal policy prior to the mid-term ANC’s policy review at its National General Council meeting, tentatively scheduled for July 2020, as well as the 55th ANC’s National Conference in December 2022.

The topics discussed included:

  • The purpose of the non-binding “ICC Withdrawal Strategy” adopted by the African Union at its summit in Addis Abeba in January 2017. The Strategy, despite its wording, laid down in the first place several objectives to be pursued to enhance the functioning of the ICC and the African representation therein, while ensuring that international justice is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. The Strategy only refers to initiating a withdrawal in the absence of achieving the set objectives.

  • The current institutional reforms undertaken by the ICC, namely the Independent Expert Review and the election of six new judges and the ICC Prosecutor at the 2020 Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

  • The expanded scope of the ICC in comparison with the protection offered by the domestic level. In particular, even though in the context of international crimes, the domestic International Crimes Bill expands South Africa’s jurisdiction by allowing for territorial and active/passive personality jurisdiction, as well as residential connection of the perpetrator with South Africa, it does not offer protection to its citizens from international crimes committed by perpetrators from other countries against South Africa who are not resident in its territory.

  • The ICC’s recent judicial developments which concern countries outside of the African continent. These include in particular: (i) ICC Appeals Chamber’s unanimous decision to authorize the ICC Prosecutor to commence an investigation into alleged international crimes in relation to the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and (ii) the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the Situation in Palestine by the ICC Prosecutor, and a request for a jurisdictional ruling by the Pre-Trial Chamber I on the scope of the ICC’s territorial jurisdiction.

  • The unique position of the ICC as the only existing international mechanism with the mandate to prosecute international crimes and render justice to victims where the countries with primary jurisdiction are unable or unwilling to genuinely to do so. As one of the recent examples, the trust in the ICC has been demonstrated by the domestic developments suggesting that the former President of Sudan, Mr. Omar al-Bashir, subject to two arrest warrants for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes issued by the ICC in 2009 and 2010, may be soon surrendered to the ICC for the mass atrocities that he allegedly ordered and executed in Darfur.

As a result of the joint efforts with the PGA Campaign on the Protection of the Ocean, which organised a parallel briefing on Maritime Governance and Sustainable Development on 10 March 2020, several members of the Parliament have joined PGA. The total number of PGA members in South Africa thus satisfies the number for creation of a National Group.

Taking into consideration the developments and measures in place taken to address the current COVID-19 emergency, PGA continues to closely monitor the developments concerning the withdrawal from the Rome Statute in order to strategise the most effective steps forward.


Ms. Frederika Schweighoferova
Senior Legal Officer
International Law and Human Rights Program

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