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Duterte defense team seeks ICC case's dismissal
Duterte defense team seeks ICC case's dismissal
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Duterte Defense Seeks Dismissal of ICC Case Citing Withdrawal from Rome Statute
The defense team of former President Rodrigo Duterte has filed a 38-page Defense Challenge concerning Jurisdiction with the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction to pursue the case against him.
In their submission, dated May 1, Duterte's lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs contend that the ICC overstepped its authority when it approved an investigation into Duterte's war on drugs in September 2021. This came after the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, relinquishing its membership from the court.
The defense has raised the jurisdiction issue to block the case from going to trial, with a hearing to confirm charges scheduled for four months hence. The ICC holds jurisdiction over crimes committed between 2011 and 2019, but not after the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute.
As a consequence, all procedural steps taken in the Situation and, subsequently, in the case against Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, lack legal foundation and should be nullified forthwith, the lawyers argued in their filing.
The defense emphasized that the liberty of the individual is at stake, and that the current ICC prosecutor should not defend a decision made by a predecessor. The argument centers on the interpretation of Article 12(2) of the Rome Statute, which stipulates that a country must be a party to the statute when the ICC decides to exercise jurisdiction.
Duterte, currently detained at The Hague's Penitentiary Institution, faces charges of crimes against humanity related to the extrajudicial killings that occurred during his administration's aggressive antidrug campaign. He was arrested on March 11.
The defense urged a swift resolution to the jurisdictional challenge, citing unnecessary expenditures if the confirmation of charges proceeds without a solid jurisdictional basis.
This debate has previously divided ICC judges. In July 2023, the Appeals Chamber decided by a narrow 3-2 vote to allow the investigation to continue, with dissenting judges arguing against the ICC's authority in the Philippines.
The Philippines joined the ICC in 2011 and began its withdrawal process in March 2018 following the announcement of a preliminary investigation into Duterte's drug war. The withdrawal officially took effect on March 17, 2019.
In July 2023, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber issued an arrest warrant for Duterte, citing reasonable grounds that he bears criminal responsibility for murder as a crime against humanity. The alleged crimes occurred during a period when the Philippines was still a State Party to the Rome Statute.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said it is up to the ICC to respond to Duterte's lawyers' request to have the charges against him dropped. If their defense is that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, then that's part of due process. Let them be, she said during a press conference.
Castro also reiterated that the Philippine government would not cooperate with the ICC after Duterte's lawyers claimed that the Marcos administration conveyed this position in a letter. Even without a letter, we really wouldn't interfere with whatever mandate the ICC may have, Castro said.
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