Max du Plessis presents South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ

“Max du Plessis speaks at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Jan 10, 2024 on behalf of South Africa. From “The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, holds public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case South Africa v. Israel on 11 and 12 January 2024, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. Session held under the presidency of Judge Joan E. Donoghue, President of the Court.“ “Advocate Max du Plessis has been an advocate for 23 years, practising and teaching mostly in the South African city of Durban. He is associated with the Doughty Street Chambers in London and is an associate fellow at Chatham House, London. “Du Plessis is without any doubt one of the top minds in international law. He combines practice and academic work. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela University. “As an international lawyer, he advises governments, international organisations and NGOs. He has appeared in or advised on cases before, among others, the International Criminal Court, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, the Southern African Development Community Tribunal, and the East African Court of Justice. ““Du Plessis has submitted friend of the court briefs before the US Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals and the Israeli Supreme Court. He is the lead or co-author of textbooks prescribed by most law schools in South Africa. The most recent is International Law: A South African Perspective (2018 – 5th edition) . “In 2015, he acted for the Southern African Litigation Centre, to counter the South African government’s argument that then Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who was visiting South Africa, had immunity from prosecution for war crimes under customary international law as a head of state. “The Supreme Court of Appeal agreed and found that South Africa was obligated by law as a signatory of the Genocide Convention to cooperate with the International Criminal Court and to arrest al-Bashir. This ruling would have compelled South Africa to arrest Russian president Vladimir Putin, against whom the ICC has issued a warrant for war crimes, should he have attended the Brics summit in Johannesburg last August.“ - For more information on the issue see