Duterte lawyers ask ICC to dismiss case, release ex-president due to lack of jurisdiction

Metro Manila, Philippines - Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team has formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) to dismiss the case against him, arguing that the Court lacks jurisdiction and that all proceedings initiated thus far should be nullified.

In a submission dated May 1 filed before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, Duterte’s defense lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs asserted that the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s war on drugs is legally baseless.

They emphasized that the Philippines was no longer a State Party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, when the Pre-Trial Chamber authorized the probe on September 15, 2021.

“The liberty of the individual is at stake,” the submission reads. “The present Prosecutor should not be fighting tooth and nail to perpetuate or defend an erroneous decision taken by his predecessor.”

The defense also claimed that neither the current nor former Prosecutor consulted any of their special advisers on the matter, raising questions about the legitimacy of the decision-making process.

Moreover, the defense pointed to a series of communications involving incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying he has effectively acknowledged that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Duterte.

They cited an exchange of letters in which Marcos reportedly gave a written undertaking that his administration would not “assist the ICC, in any way, shape or form.”

The filing concludes 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 authorised the opening of an investigation,” and calls for the entire case against Duterte to be dropped.

“As a consequence,” the defense argued, “all procedural steps taken in the Situation and, subsequently, in the case against Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, lack legal foundation and should be nullified forthwith.”

Duterte was “surrendered” to ICC custody on March 11 following an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I for crimes against humanity for murder.

The ICC investigation covers Duterte’s alleged role in extrajudicial killings linked to the so-called Davao Death Squad, which began during his term as Davao City mayor and continued into the early years of his presidency.