UN member states in New York will tomorrow mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute that created the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola is expected to attend the commemorative event, which includes a ministerial roundtable on the strategic vision for the next decade of the court.
The anniversary comes as South Africa weighs its responsibilities regarding the execution of an ICC arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Lamola is likely to raise concerns he expressed earlier this year about what he and others view as inconsistencies by the ICC in the execution of its work, which he believes undermines the rule of law and the work of the court itself.
He also told parliament in May that South Africa should consider a framework to suspend the implementation of the Rome Statute where it did not serve the interests of the country.
Uncertainty also continues around the in-person attendance by President Putin of the BRICS Summit in South Africa next month that places the country’s Rome Statute obligations to arrest him country front and centre.
ANC NEC presses ahead with efforts to withdraw SA from ICC: Prof. Siphamandla Zondi
