Democratic Alliance v Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and Others (Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution Intervening) (83145/2016)
Democratic Alliance v Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and Others (Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution Intervening) (83145/2016) [2017] ZAGPPHC 53; 2017 (3) SA 212 (GP); [2017] 2 All SA 123 (GP); 2017 (1) SACR 623 (GP) (22 February 2017)
The court held that section 231 of the Constitution requires prior parliamentary approval before the executive may deliver a notice of withdrawal from an international treaty such as the Rome Statute. The executive's unilateral delivery of the notice of withdrawal, without parliamentary approval and before the repeal of the Implementation Act, was unconstitutional and invalid. The court found that the separation of powers doctrine prohibits the executive from terminating international agreements without legislative involvement. The process followed by the executive was procedurally irrational…
Source excerpt
- Separation Of Powers
- Treaty Withdrawal
- Parliamentary Approval
- Rome Statute
- Procedural Rationality
- Public Participation