ICC withdrawal threats of no effect
Cabinet's affirmation of Namibia's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no effect until such time that the National Assembly endorses such a position.
This is the opinion of human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe, who commented on a ruling by the South African High Court in Pretoria that the SA government's decision to withdraw from the ICC was unconstitutional.
Judge Phineas Mojapelo ordered the ministers of justice and international relations to revoke the notice of withdrawal sent to the United Nations in October last year. Mojapelo argued that it was not the executive's prerogative to enter into and withdraw from treaties the country had signed.
He said the execution of decisions by the executive must be on the basis of the expressed authority of the country's constitution and if the authority was not expressed in the constitution then the matter must be decided on by parliament.
The same is true for Namibia. Parliament still has to debate Namibia's withdrawal, but President Hage Geingob said in an interview with Reuters in London last year that he was sure the withdrawal would go ahead. In the latest pronouncement on the matter, the deputy prime minister and minister of international relations and cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, said Namibia had “nothing to lose” should it leave the ICC. She said such withdrawal would be an indication of the trust the Namibian people had in local institutions.
CATHERINE SASMAN
This is the opinion of human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe, who commented on a ruling by the South African High Court in Pretoria that the SA government's decision to withdraw from the ICC was unconstitutional.
Judge Phineas Mojapelo ordered the ministers of justice and international relations to revoke the notice of withdrawal sent to the United Nations in October last year. Mojapelo argued that it was not the executive's prerogative to enter into and withdraw from treaties the country had signed.
He said the execution of decisions by the executive must be on the basis of the expressed authority of the country's constitution and if the authority was not expressed in the constitution then the matter must be decided on by parliament.
The same is true for Namibia. Parliament still has to debate Namibia's withdrawal, but President Hage Geingob said in an interview with Reuters in London last year that he was sure the withdrawal would go ahead. In the latest pronouncement on the matter, the deputy prime minister and minister of international relations and cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, said Namibia had “nothing to lose” should it leave the ICC. She said such withdrawal would be an indication of the trust the Namibian people had in local institutions.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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