South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been ruled “unconstitutional and invalid by the High Court.
South Africa notified the UN of its intention to leave last October, saying the ICC pursued “regime Change”.
The court ruled in favour of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which argued that the government had to first seek parliament approval.
The court ordered the government to revoke its notice of withdrawal.
In his response Justice Minister Michael Masutha said the government still intended to quit the ICC, Reuter’s news agency reports.
He is quoted as saying that government would consider its options, including a possible appeal, after studying the full judgment.
The BBC reports that the decision to pull out came after a dispute over Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s visit to the country in 2015.
South African authorities refused to arrest Mr Bashir despite him facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.
Mr Bashir was attending an African Union Summit in Johannesburg, when the government ignored an ICC request to arrest him.
