Government has begun the process of officially pulling out of the International Criminal Court.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha has introduced the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act Repeal Bill.

The Justice committee in Parliament will now call for public comments on the bill, before it is processed.

South Africa is expected to appear before the ICC in The Hague in April, to explain why it didn’t arrest Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir in 2015.

The dispute led to South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the court. South Africa’s refusal to arrest al-Bashir provoked the ire of the ICC.

Al-Bashir is wanted for human rights abuses in his own country.