The International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Public Counsel for Victims has dismissed the “Defence Challenge with Respect to Jurisdiction” submitted by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team.
The challenge sought to replace the composition of Pre-Trial Chamber 1, which is responsible for ruling on the jurisdictional challenge raised by Duterte’s camp.
Duterte’s team previously argued that certain preconditions were not met before the ICC exercised jurisdiction, following the Pre-Trial Chamber’s approval to open an investigation on September 15, 2021.
However, ICC Principal Counsel Paolina Massidda clarified that the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute has no legal effect on the proceedings since the preliminary examination by the Office of the Prosecutor began before the withdrawal became effective.
Duterte formally withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute in 2018, which took effect in 2019, after the ICC launched a preliminary investigation into alleged crimes linked to his administration’s controversial anti-drug campaign.
In 2021, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that the country still has an obligation to cooperate with the ICC despite its withdrawal because such withdrawal does not affect criminal proceedings concerning alleged crimes committed while the country was still a member state.
Duterte was arrested and is currently in custody at the ICC’s Hague Penitentiary Institution (Scheveningen Prison) since March of this year, awaiting his trial.
