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The ICC considered two central questions: First, whether South Africa failed to comply with its obligations under the statute by not arresting and surrendering Al-Bashir to the Court while he was in South African territory despite having received a request from the ICC under Articles 87 and 89 of the Statute for his arrest and surrender. Second, whether a formal finding of noncompliance by South Africa in this respect and referral of the matter to the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute or to the United Nations Security Council are warranted.

It has become fashionable to criticize the International Criminal Court for its exclusive focus on African cases. Developing nations, particularly from the South, now repeatedly and rightly complain about the skewed power relations in the UN Security Council. The imbalance of power within the council has come sharply into focus through its influence over the court. We now need to reflect soberly on the reality that all the cases opened by that court are in Africa. Adapted from the source document.

This article considers the issue of reparation for slavery and the
claim for reparation advanced by African states against the West. The
paper begins by briefly outlining the principles relating to State
responsibility and reparation in international law, and gives an overview
of the recognised forms of legal reparation that exist. The paper then
provides some exploratory discussion on the issue of reparation for
slavery. It is exploratory in the sense that this is a matter which has
received scant attention in recent international law literature. As
regards the current call for reparation, the author identifies the
weaknesses of legal claims within the existing international law paradigm
of State responsibility. As an alternative, the paper considers ways in
which political strategies might be employed to achieve reparation. In
particular, the author aims to align calls for reparation for slavery
with existing claims to development by African states, as a means
by which a moral global economy can be achieved. In this regard, the
author considers the feasibility of the different forms of reparation,
insofar as they are able to underpin and advance the idea of a moral
global economy. The paper also briefly examines the issue of reparation
for colonialism and considers how the insights as regards reparation for
slavery might be useful in relation to reparation claims for colonialism.

This article focuses on controversial constitutional cases involving "national moral issues" and considers the manner in which the South African Constitutional Court has dealt with the issue of public opinion. While it is generally accepted that the Court has a valid role to play as a guardian of minority rights as against positive morality (its "official position"), the question remains of how to deal with the fact that the Court's decision sometimes lead to a rejection of public opinion. The article argues that it is in the Court's interest to adopt a role which openly engages with South African citizens in those cases where it rejects public opinion in favour of upholding minority rights. In order to evaluate the Court's record insofar as this open engagement is concerned, the article considers three Constitutional Court cases which have involved national moral issues. The author shows that the Court has on the whole delivered judgments which pursuasively engage with public opinion (through the use of Rawlsian "public reason"), and which attempt to edify the South African public about their ethical identity under the Constitution. In so doing, it is argued that the Court has managed to tread a delicate path between the dangers of apology (being seen as deferent to public opinion) and utopia (losing legitimacy for failing to engage with public opinion). The author also argues that while the Court's educative role needs to be supported by the media and other institutions, the Court can itself adopt certain measures through which it will enhance its teaching role within South African public life. (S Afr J Hum Rights/DÜI)