Prosecuting International Crimes in Africa - PULP - University of ...

CHAPTER
14
Lee
1 Introduction
IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ROME STATUTE
IN SOUTH AFRICA
* LL.B (Free State); LL.M (Pretoria); Diploma in the Justiciability of Socio-Economic
and Cultural Rights (Åbo); Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and Senior
Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Durban.
305
Stone*
South Africa has always been a fervent supporter of a permanent
international criminal court. From the commencement of the negotiations
towards the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court,
South Africa assumed a leadership role and was influential in drafting the
Rome Statute. 1 Since 1993 South Africa had participated in efforts to
establish the ICC when the International Law Commission (ILC) had
presented a draft statute to the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee for
consideration. Subsequently, South Africa was frequently invited to
participate in the meetings of the bureau of the conference and was thus a
member of the Drafting Committee of the Rome Conference and coordinated
the formulation of significant parts of the Rome Statute,
including part 4. 2
South Africa’s prominent position within the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) was also apparent during the
negotiation, ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute. SADC’s
consultative meetings were held between 1995 and 1997 to explore the
benefits and implications of establishing an ICC. Thereafter, a conference
of SADC member states was held from the 5 to 9 July 1999 in Pretoria,
South Africa. During this conference, a Model Enabling Act, Ratification
1 M du Plessis ‘International criminal courts, the International Criminal Court, and
South Africa’s implementation of the Rome Statute’ in J Dugard International law: A
South African perspective (2006) 177. See also C Blair and M du Plessis ‘Africa's
obstruction of justice’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/18/
darfur-bashir-african-union-icc (accessed 18 December 2009).
2 H Jallow & F Bensouda ‘International criminal law in an African context’ in M du
Plessis (ed) African guide to international criminal law (2008) Institute for Security Studies
43.