ICC judges reject jurisdiction challenge by former Philippine president Duterte
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte appearing onscreen at the International Criminal Court in March.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- ICC judges rejected Rodrigo Duterte's challenge to the court's jurisdiction regarding his alleged crimes in the Philippines.
- Duterte's defence argued the ICC lacked jurisdiction because the Philippines withdrew in 2019 before a full investigation began.
- The court ruled the preliminary examination before withdrawal was sufficient for his case to proceed; a fitness for trial report is due.
AI generated
THE HAGUE – Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have rejected a challenge to the court’s jurisdiction in a case against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and said his case can move forward, according to a court decision published on Oct 23.
Duterte, in office from 2016 to 2022, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March
Duterte and his lawyers have said his arrest was unlawful, challenging the jurisdiction of the court on the basis that the court did not open a full-fledged investigation into crimes in the Philippines until after the country had withdrawn as an ICC member, effective in 2019.
Under the court’s rules, a withdrawal from the ICC does not affect matters “already under consideration by the court”.
According to Duterte’s defence, the so-called preliminary examination into the situation in the Philippines by prosecutors – announced just weeks before Manila said it would leave the court – was not enough to conclude that alleged crimes by him were already under consideration.
Judges disagreed, saying that even if an official investigation sanctioned by judges only started in 2021, the prosecution’s preliminary examination was substantial enough to say it was a matter already under consideration.
The Oct 23 ruling does not address the other defence motion to stop the Duterte case on the basis that the 80-year-old is unfit to stand trial due to alleged cognitive decline. Judges have appointed a panel of medical experts who are due to file a report on Duterte’s fitness for trial by the end of October.
A decision on how his health will affect proceedings is not expected until mid-November. REUTERS
