South African Opposition Party Challenges Gov't ICC Decision in Court

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party in South Africa, filed on Monday an affidavit to the constitutional court, to challenge the constitutional merit of the government's notice to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), following the South African government last week notice to the United Nations requesting in it, the withdrawal from the Roman Statute of the ICC to the United Nations.

"The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today filed its founding affidavit for direct access to the Constitutional Court, in order to challenge the constitutionality of the South African Government’s notice to initiate the process of withdrawing from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)," DA said in a statement.

According to DA, the government has acted without consulting the parliament regarding delivery of the notice to the United Nations, which they say is the only body capable of issuing a mandate to withdraw from the ICC considering the consequences that such a decision might have on domestic legislative system.

The party added that the government's step decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC would harm the rights of the citizens in South Africa.

South Africa has submitted a notice on Friday to the United Nations secretary-general requesting to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC, making it the first country to give notice to withdraw its membership from the court since it was created in 1988.

South Africa's decision to quit was reportedly spurred by the ICC’s request that South Africa turn in Sudanese President Omar Bashir during his visit to Johannesburg in 2015.

South Africa's complete withdrawal will come into effect one year after the notification has been issued.