Government has formally lodged an application for leave to appeal a High Court order that it was legally bound to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
Al-Bashir visited South Africa last month to attend the African Union Summit in Johannesburg.
It emerged that al-Bashir had already left the country in direct breach of an interim court order after a full bench of judges ordered his arrest.
In papers filed at the High Court in Pretoria, government argues that there is no provision in the implementation of the Rome Statute, which imposes a legal duty to act contrary to sections of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act.
It was this legislation government relied on to give al-Bashir immunity when he visited South Africa.
Government argues that the court should have found that immunity precludes the endorsement and execution of a warrant of arrest.
