Recent Case: International criminal law

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Published date: 16 August 2019
• Citation: (2010) 23 SACJ 317
• Author: Max du Plessis
• Date: 16 August 2019
• Pages: 317-325

International criminal law

MAX DU PLESSIS

University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

Introduction

The world’s f‌irst permanent international criminal court (the Interna-

tional Criminal Court or ICC), whilst seated in The Hague, has thus

far demonstrated a deep investment in Africa. Still in its infancy, the

ICC’s f‌irst cases are all on the continent. Three countries in the Great

Lakes region of Africa (the Central African Republic, the Democratic

Republic of Congo, and Uganda) were the f‌irst to refer ‘situations’ in

their respective territories to the ICC Prosecutor for investigations and

possible prosecutions. Cote d’Ivoire, in West Africa, subsequently made

history by becoming the f‌irst non-party to lodge a declaration accept-

ing the ICC’s jurisdiction. Most recently, another East African nation,

Kenya, indicated that it too wished to refer a situation to the Court

Recent cases 317

(2010) 23 SACJ 317

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