Duterte defense team challenges ICC

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team has taken a step to formally challenge the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his arrest for alleged crimes against humanity, appealing that he be released immediately and the case against him be nullified.

Defense lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dr. Dov Jacobs made the appeal in a 38-page “Defense Challenge with Respect to Jurisdiction” dated May 1, saying that there is no legal basis for the continuation of the proceedings against the former president.

“The defense reiterates that the preconditions for the exercise of jurisdiction under Article 12 in the Situation of the Philippines were not met at the time the Pre-Trial Chamber authorized the opening of an investigation on September 15, 2021. The Republic of the Philippines was no longer a state party to the Rome Statute at that critical point in time,” the document states.

This runs opposite to the ICC’s earlier explanation that while the Philippine government’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect on March 17, 2019, the Court retains jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes that occurred on the territory of the Philippines while it was a state party, from November 1, 2011 up to and including March 16, 2019.



READ: Palace: ICC has jurisdiction on cases when Duterte was mayor until 2019

Duterte’s defense team, meanwhile, likewise insisted that his liberty is “at stake” and that the present Prosecutor should not be fighting tooth and nail to perpetuate or defend an erroneous decision taken by his predecessor.

“Indeed, the defense is informed that neither the former or current prosecutor sought input from any of their ‘special advisors’ on the issues pertinent to the current debate,” the document states.

The defense lawyers likewise argued that no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had earlier made clear that former President Duterte should not be tried at the ICC.

“In an exchange of letters, President Marcos even gave a written undertaking to the effect that his government would not assist the ICC in any way, shape or form,” they argued.

With these, Duterte’s team came to the conclusion that all procedural steps taken in the situation and, subsequently, in the case against the former president “lack legal foundation and should be nullified forthwith.”

“The defense requests the Pre-Trial Chamber find that there is no legal basis for the continuation of the proceedings against Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte and to order his immediate and unconditional release,” they added.

The ICC currently has custody of Duterte after he was arrested and sent to The Hague for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody war against drugs, which left at least 6,000 people dead, and human rights groups reporting at least 20,000 killed.

 

(2025/05/02-08:22)