Former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke is set to join the bench of the International Court of Justice in The Hague next week when South Africa argues its genocide case against Israel.
The Department of International Relations announced on Friday that it approached Moseneke to join the bench of 15 permanent judges in an ad hoc capacity.
South Africa currently does not have permanent representation on the bench of the United Nations’ top court.
The government lodged a dispute with Israel under the Genocide Convention last week for the killings of more than 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
However, the court statute permits a country which has a case before it but which is not represented on the bench by a person of its nationality to choose a jurist to sit in an ad hoc capacity in that specific case.
Head of Public Diplomacy in the Department of International Relations Clayson Monyela:
“South Africa has approached Justice Dikgang Moseneke, who has agreed to join the other ICJ judges on the bench to hear South Africa’s case against Israel.”
The court indicated on Wednesday that it will dedicate next week’s public hearings to the nine provisional measures South Africa is asking it to consider, which in the main deal with an immediate stop to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The court will then still have to consider the merits of South Africa’s case that these operations amount to acts of genocide under the UN convention.
In February, South African professor of international law Dire Tladi will join the UN court in a permanent capacity.
-EWN
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