The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) welcomes a decision by the North Gauteng High Court to deny the State leave to appeal its earlier full-bench judgment in the Al-Bashir case.

A full bench of the High Court stated that it does not “hold the opinion that the appeal has reasonable prospects of success at all”. As such and in terms of the Superior Courts Act, the application for leave to appeal cannot be successful. The Court accordingly reiterated that for the reasons stated in its earlier judgment handed down in July 2015 in this matter, President Al-Bashir “enjoyed no immunity from arrest or from prosecution under customary international law as a serving Head of State…”, as the government have incorrectly and unsuccessfully been arguing.

On 29 July the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) and the School of Public Leadership (SPL) at Stellenbosch University (SU) supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), hosted the third in a series of breakfast discussions for 2015. The aim of these discussions is to create a platform for conversation about the Constitution and good public leadership.

The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) welcomes the comprehensive explanation handed down by Justice Dunstan Mlambo, Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, on behalf of a full bench of the North Gauteng High Court. In its judgment, the Court explained the reasons for its earlier ruling in which it held that the South African government’s failure to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir – in accordance with its international obligations – was inconsistent with the Constitution and unlawful.

The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) welcomes a judgment handed down by a full bench of the North-Gauteng High Court, in which the Court held that the South African government’s failure to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir – in accordance with its international obligations – was inconsistent with the Constitution and unlawful.