JOHANNESBURG - The Southern Africa Litigation Centre has said it is deeply concerned at the challenge to the SADC tribunal made by justice minister Patrick Chinamasa (pictured). The organisation, which promotes human rights and the rule of law in southern Africa, says Chinamasas claims that the tribunal was invalid were at best fundamentally misunderstanding the inherent flexibility that infuses the law of treaties; at worst, deliberately misrepresenting the position under international law.
The Centre, however, welcomed the Zimbabwean governments stated intent that it would adhere to international law and urged the SADC to hold the Zimbabwean government to this commitment.
In a statement, the organisation said: Neither the position that the amending agreement to the SADC treaty requires ratification nor that the protocol of the tribunal is not subject to amendment are supported at international law. Amendment to the treaty and protocol were validly made and the Ministers disputation thereof is without merit.