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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider ICC asks prosecution to comment on jurisdiction issue over Duterte case

ICC asks prosecution to comment on jurisdiction issue over Duterte case

Published May 10, 2025 10:13 am
The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered the prosecution to comment on the challenge raised by former president Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team regarding the court’s jurisdiction over his case.

                    Former president Rodrigo Duterte (ICC Photo)
In a four-page document dated May 7, the Chamber said that the prosecution must submit their “written observations on the challenge” by no later than June 9 this year.

“For these reasons, the Chamber hereby orders the Prosecution and the OPCV (Office of Public Counsel for Victims) to submit their written observations on the Challenge, if any, by no later than Monday, 9 June 2025,” the document read.

It added that the Victims Participation and Reparations Section (VPRS) must also “provide the OPCV with the necessary information about potential victims who have already communicated with the Court in relation to the present case as well as any necessary assistance to contact such victims.”

Allowing the prosecution and the victims to submit their observations on the jurisdiction challenge is pursuant to Rules 58(2) and (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Chamber noted.

It also recalled that the OPCV must represent “the collective interests of potential victims” and that the OPCV must represent potential victims “who have already communicated with the Court in relation to [this] case.”

The order stemmed from the 38-page document submitted by Duterte’s defense team—headed by lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs—dated May 1, challenging the legal basis for continuing the proceedings against the former chief executive.

“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 defense said.

It also appealed for Duterte to be released immediately and for the case against him to be nullified. The former chief executive’s next pre-trial hearing is set on Sept. 23 for the confirmation of charges.

However, this runs contrary to the ICC’s earlier explanation that it has jurisdiction over crimes that happened in the Philippines when it was still a party of the Rome Statute—from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.

The Duterte administration’s withdrawal from its ICC membership took effect on March 17, 2019.

The former president is currently detained in The Hague for crimes against humanity of murder in relation to his administration’s brutal war on drugs that left 6,000 dead, government records showed.

Human rights groups claimed that the actual number of deaths may run between 20,000 to 30,000.

Related Tags

Rodrigo Duterte ICC crimes against humanity drug war
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