ICC judges reject Duterte team disqualification bid

Metro Manila, Philippines - Two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have rebuffed accusations of bias leveled by the defense team of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, urging the tribunal’s plenary of judges to dismiss the disqualification request filed earlier this month.

“We take very seriously our solemn undertaking to exercise our judicial functions impartially and conscientiously and always abide by them. We see no grounds in the current case that would have required us to seek to be excused or that could lead to our disqualification,” said Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera in a written memorandum dated May 22.

Duterte’s defense team, led by Nicholas Kaufman, argued that the judges had “formulated a firm opinion on the question sub judice prior to hearing Defence submissions,” thereby undermining their impartiality.

However, the judges said this was legally unfounded, warning that such claims “have the potential to cause delay.”

They said previous rulings on jurisdiction were made “within the limits of the relevant stage of the proceedings and without prejudice to any future determinations on the same issue.”

They said that the new jurisdictional arguments raised, concerning the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, “were neither before nor considered by the Chamber at that time.”

Reaffirming the ICC’s standards, the judges cited a core principle of judicial impartiality: “The disqualification of a judge is not a step to be undertaken lightly and […] a high threshold must be satisfied in order to rebut the presumption of impartiality which attaches to judicial office.”

The judges urged the plenary to reject the request.

“There are no grounds to doubt our impartiality in the current case and none of the criteria established under article 41(2) of the Rome Statute are met,” they said.