Legal Articles and Guides

The Ministry of Justice & Correctional Services yesterday said a request by the UAE to resubmit an extradition application for the Gupta brothers is stalling the process to bring the siblings back to SA.

The US Government appears eager to move on from the diplomatic fiasco caused by the Lady R accusations, saying yesterday that it appreciates the seriousness of the SA Government in investigating the claims.

While the wave of relief that washed over the country after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Russia’s Vladimir Putin will no longer attend the Brics summit in person was palpable, the euphoria around Ramaphosa’s statement may be premature.

A major diplomatic crisis – which saw SA firmly in the crosshairs of the international community – appears to have been averted with yesterday’s confirmation that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Brics summit next month.

Cabinet will today consider a recommendation to move the annual Brics summit to China, following a legal opinion by a technical team appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to look into the legal implications of hosting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Despite the high-profile reporting on the Lady R docking at Simon’s Town Naval Base and – in the dead of night – cargo being loaded on and off, President Cyril Ramaphosa would have us believe that he has no idea what was loaded – so much so that he has asked a retired judge to investigate.

South African Nationals are looking at acquiring a second citizenship and passport for their families and themselves in record numbers. A second citizenship and passport can be for immediate use or as a “plan B”.

SA has abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for its holding of referendums in four occupied Ukrainian provinces last month before annexing them to Russia.

War crime fugitive Guus Kouwenhoven is a step closer to extradition as his latest legal attempts to try to prevent this have failed.

Heated discussions about action taken against Dutch war criminal Guus Kouwenhoven in SA developed during a SCA hearing on Friday.

If the Constitution was complied with when the Constitutional Court sentenced former President Jacob Zuma to a 15-month jail term after finding him guilty of contempt, it is impossible to conclude that international law was violated.

SA was under a duty under the Rome Statute to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he was in the country in 2015 at the AU summit‚ the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled yesterday. By not arresting him‚ it failed in its duty to comply with the court’s request for his surrender. This prevented the court from exercising its functions and powers‚ the ICC said in its finding, according to a BusinessLIVE report.

For the second time in less than a month, an international dispute with virtually no South African connection has ended up in a local court. The latest is an application brought in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) last week by Balkan Energy against the government of Ghana. A few years back Balkan won an international arbitration award against the government of Ghana for US$12m that Ghana has refused to pay.

As expected SA has denied it flouted international law by refusing in 2015 to arrest visiting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir wanted by war crimes judges on charges of genocide in Darfur. At an unprecedented hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Pretoria found itself fending off accusations that it had failed in its obligations to the very tribunal which it helped to found, notes a News24 report.

Justice Minister Michael Masutha has formally withdrawn SA’s decision to pull out of the International Criminal Court, says a report in The Mercury. Masutha confirmed in Parliament yesterday that the country would not withdraw from the ICC. The decision has ended months of speculation after an earlier decision by the government to pull out, says the report.