| State Party: | yes |
| Date signed: | July 17, 1998 |
| Date ratified: | Nov. 27, 2000 |
South Africa adopted legislation implementing the Rome Statute in 2002. South Africa’s ICC Act follows the model developed for the ICC Ratification Kit of the Southern African Development Community in 1999, to which South Africa had contributed. South Africa’s ICC Act deals with cooperation provisions in the main part, while the definition of crimes is given in attached schedules which replicate verbatim the wording of the Rome Statute. The ICC Act is very comprehensive and well structured. However, the ICC Act does not contain a provision on command and superior responsibility and forms of individual liability are equally not further specified; defences excluding criminal liability are also not listed. With regard to cooperation, the ICC Act does not detail how competing requests will be handled by national courts. Given the general reference in the beginning of the Act to the applicability of the Rome Statute, judges may rely on it when dealing with relevant issues. However, potential conflicts with other South African laws could emerge and these should also be addressed.
View relevant provisions here.