Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to order his immediate and unconditional release, alongside the filing of an appeal challenging the Court’s decision affirming its jurisdiction over the Philippines despite the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute.
In a 21-page appeal submitted on Friday, Duterte’s lawyers argued that the Pre-Trial Chamber committed errors in interpreting the law and the facts when it ruled in October that the ICC may continue its proceedings related to the Philippines.
According to the defense, the Chamber relied on a “new and unsupported interpretation” of Article 127(2) of the Rome Statute and treated it as superseding Article 12, the general provision on the Court’s jurisdiction.
“It is difficult to comprehend how the Pre-Trial Chamber concluded that ‘Article 127(2) of the Statute allows the Court to continue exercising its jurisdiction if the matter was already under consideration prior to the effective withdrawal of a State,’” the defense said.
Duterte is currently detained at the ICC detention facility on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his administration’s bloody war on drugs.
The appeal also questioned the ICC’s use of “subsequent practice,” rejecting the notion that the Philippines’ actions after its withdrawal signaled acceptance of the Court’s continued authority.
The defense stressed that the treaty does not grant jurisdiction over a state that is no longer a party.
“The ‘subsequent practice’ of the Philippines cannot serve as an interpretative guide, especially when the overall conduct of the Government of the Philippines has consistently shown explicit rejection of the Court’s ability to exercise jurisdiction,” the document stated.
Under the Rome Statute, the ICC may continue investigating crimes committed while a country was still a member. The drug war began in 2016. The Philippines withdrew from the treaty in 2018, with the withdrawal taking effect in 2019.
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