By Noriko Yamamoto

The International Criminal Court (ICC) dismissed former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal challenge to its authority and rejected his request for an interim release in a ruling dated October 23.

Duterte is currently held in The Hague on charges of human rights violations, including murder and attempted murder, linked to his anti-drug campaign in the Philippines during his administration.

“The Chamber finds that the Court can exercise its jurisdiction in the present case over the crimes alleged against Mr. Duterte that were committed on the territory of the Philippines while it was a State Party,” the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said, confirming that the trial will proceed in The Hague.

A 32-page ruling signed by all three judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I also denied the defense’s request to delay consideration of Duterte’s jurisdictional challenge.

The decision primarily addresses whether the Philippines’ 2019 withdrawal from the Rome Statute ended the ICC’s authority to investigate crimes committed in the country.

Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, argued that the court lacked the legal basis to probe alleged crimes against humanity in the Philippines.

“The Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute became effective on 17 March 2019 when the former Prosecutor filed her request and the Pre-trial Chamber issued its decision more than two years later,” the defense stated.

It further claimed, “As a consequence, 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.”

The chamber, however, declared that the then-ICC Prosecutor had announced an investigation into the Philippines on February 8, 2018.

It explained that the inquiry would examine “crimes allegedly committed in this State Party since at least 1 July 2016,” during Duterte’s “war on drugs” campaign.

This showed that the ICC’s probe began while the Philippines was still a member, and therefore the court retained jurisdiction over offenses committed before the withdrawal became effective.