IN THE NEWS: South African authorities may prosecute other governments for crimes against humanity

On 27 November, the Supreme Court of appeal handed down judgment in the matter of the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service v Southern African Human Rights Litigation Centre and held that the South African Police and prosecuting authorities are empowered to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity committed beyond the borders of South Africa in the International Criminal Court. The SCA came to this conclusion by having regard for the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to which South Africa is a state party.

This specific case focused on whether or not the South African authorities have the jurisdiction to investigate crimes against humanity being committed in Zimbabwe, which the court confirmed to be the case, although the court could not order the prosecuting authority to prosecute such a case or direct its investigation, which would be in breach of the principle of separation of powers.

Although this judgment confirms the High Court decision that the National Commissioner of the SAPS is competent to investigate crimes against humanity committed extraterritorially, the final decision is ultimately left in the hands of the Commissioner to decide whether or not the matter should be investigated at all. This judgment is an interesting legal development in the realm of international law. However, whether the prosecuting authority will ever make use of this opportunity is a different question.

This will be our last newsletter for 2013. Our offices will be closed from 23 December and will reopen on 6 January 2014. We wish all of our clients a safe and enjoyable festive season and a happy new year!

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