JOHANNESBURG: A South African court ruled on Wednesday that the government’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court without parliament’s approval was unconstitutional.

A high court judge instructed the government to revoke its notice of withdrawal from the human rights tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands. South Africa has been set to become the first country to leave the tribunal that prosecutes the world’s worst atrocities.

South Africa’s main opposition party had gone to court, saying the government’s notice was illegal because parliament was not consulted. “South Africa does not want to be lumped together with pariah states who have no respect for human rights,” the Democratic Alliance said in a statement on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2017