Former Pres. Duterte’s Lawyers Make Submission to ICC Challenging its PH Jurisdiction
DUTERTE’S LAWYERS – The legal counsels of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte insisted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is allegedly not in the position to exercise jurisdiction in the Philippines.
Before leaving The Hague, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte finalized the ICC legal team of her father, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte. He is currently detained in an ICC detention facility in the Netherlands over an allegation of crimes against humanity because of his war on drugs.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that her name is also on the list of the ICC of people who may be arrested. Previously, the foreign court confirmed that it has an ongoing investigation of the individuals who are linked to the drug war of the Duterte administration.
Vice Pres. Duterte also claimed that Senator Bato dela Rosa’s name in the alleged ICC list came before her. According to her, aside from Dela Rosa who was the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief during the former President’s regime, there were allegedly several names in the list that are ahead of her.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is currently detained in the Hague Penitentiary Institution under a regular detention. Duterte’s lawyers include British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman who leads his ICC legal team and French lawyer Dr. Dov Jacobs, an associate counsel in the team.
Previously, Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman expressed his hope to convince the judges that the ICC has no jurisdiction in the Philippines. According to him, in case their camp will be able to do it, there might be no need to get to the confirmation of charges set on September 23.
Recently, based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Duterte’s lawyers made a submission to the International Criminal Court where they insisted that the ICC allegedly has no jurisdiction in the Philippines. Lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs cited the jurisdictional framework of the Rome Statute.
“The jurisdictional framework of the Rome Statute is clear: A State must be a State Party at the time of the exercise of jurisdiction,” Duterte’s lawyers stated in the submission.
Based on the report, the withdrawal of the Philippines from the International Criminal Court Rome Statute took effect on March 17, 2019. However, previously, the ICC explained that there are allegations that took place when the country was still a member of the ICC.
“The Prosecutor has never demonstrated that the Court was legally authorised to exercise jurisdiction after the Philippines’ effective withdrawal from the Rome Statute,” the submission stated.
Also, Duterte’s lawyers claimed the “irrelevance or inapplicability of Article 127(2) of the Rome Statute” in the case of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Article 127 of the Rome Statute states that a withdrawal of a country under the Rome Statute does not affect the jurisdiction of the ICC over the crimes committed while the nation was still a member.
Previously, the lawyer of Duterte also confirmed that they were “working on” his interim release bid. The former Philippine President is detained in the ICC detention facility for more than a month now.