Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer of former president Rodrigo Duterte in his International Criminal Court case. ICC-CPI/file

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Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer of former president Rodrigo Duterte in his International Criminal Court case. ICC-CPI/file 

Jonathan Magistrado

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763164903394175599522939517537150385581753715037813.jpeg.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer of former president Rodrigo Duterte in his International Criminal Court case. ICC-CPI/file </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The legal team for former President Rodrigo Duterte has formally requested the International Criminal Court to immediately and unconditionally release him and terminate all ongoing proceedings.</p><p>The Defense, led by counsel Nicholas Kaufman, filed the 21-page &quot;Appeal Brief on Jurisdiction&quot; on November 14, 2025, to the Appeals Chamber of the ICC.</p><p>The document challenges the October 23, 2025, decision by Pre-Trial Chamber I, which had ruled that the ICC retained jurisdiction to continue the case against the former President.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>PH WITHDRAWAL FROM ROME STATUTE</strong></div><p>The central dispute hinges on the legal consequence of the Philippines&#x27; withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, which became effective on March 17, 2019.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/23/icc-rejects-duterte-s-jurisdiction-challenge-2355"><strong>ICC rejects Duterte&#x27;s jurisdiction challenge<br/></strong></a></div><p>The Defense argues that the Pre-Trial Chamber made multiple fundamental errors of law in its decision, maintaining that the court lost its legal basis (jurisdiction) to pursue the case after the country&#x27;s withdrawal.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:536px;height:856px;display:block;flex-grow:1" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1989467524782854657&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-11-14T23%3A44%3A48.748095%3A713c2090-ac8a-49ee-8bd2-05a785d11f36%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=6ce68b5c08e69c6a128650ace9b418add758b005&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" data-tweet-id="1989467524782854657"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><div><br/></div><p>The key arguments presented in the appeal brief include:</p><p><strong>Rejection of Lex Specialis —</strong>The Defense argues the lower chamber erred by classifying Article 127(2) of the Rome Statute as &quot;lex specialis&quot; (a special rule overriding a general one) to Article 12.</p><p>They contend this finding is a &quot;legal novelty&quot; that has no support in the Statute’s drafting history and lacks a legal conflict with Article 12 that would require such an interpretation.</p><p><strong>Definition of &#x27;Matter Under Consideration&#x27; </strong>— The lawyers contest the finding that a preliminary examination by the Prosecutor, which began in February 2018 , constitutes a &quot;matter under consideration by the Court&quot; for the purposes of retaining jurisdiction. They argue this interpretation of &quot;matter&quot; is overly broad.</p><p><strong>Exclusion of the Prosecutor —</strong> The brief argues that the term &quot;the Court&quot; in Article 127(2) refers only to the judicial organs and does not include the Office of the Prosecutor , and therefore, the Prosecutor&#x27;s preliminary examination alone cannot satisfy the condition for continued consideration of the case.</p><p>The Defense further warned that if the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision stands, it creates a &quot;dangerous policy risk&quot; by effectively giving the Prosecutor the power to &quot;frustrate legitimate withdrawal simply by opening a preliminary examination before the one-year withdrawal period becomes effective&quot;.</p><p>They contend that the Statute&#x27;s drafters already provided the necessary balance by affording the Prosecutor one full year to seek an investigation before a withdrawal becomes effective.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/11/victims-counsel-defers-to-icc-discretion-on-duterte-defense-plea-to-disqualify-key-expert-0707"><strong>Victims&#x27; counsel defers to ICC discretion on Duterte defense plea to disqualify key expert<br/></strong></a></div><p>The Defense is requesting the Appeals Chamber, which is comprised of five judges, including Presiding Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza to reverse the decision on jurisdiction, find there is no basis for the ICC to continue proceedings against Duterte, and order him released.</p><p>Duterte has been in ICC custody in The Hague in the Netherlands since March 2025 to face a crimes against humanity case related to his violent war on drugs, where thousands of &quot;drug personalities&quot; were killed in what authorities said were justified shootings.</p><p>A review by the Department of Justice of dozens of cases found irregularities and breaches of police protocol.</p><p>The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in response to its Office of the Prosecutor launching a preliminary examination into the situation in the country.</p>

<p>The legal team for former President Rodrigo Duterte has formally requested the International Criminal Court to immediately and unconditionally release him and terminate all ongoing proceedings.</p>

The legal team for former President Rodrigo Duterte has formally requested the International Criminal Court to immediately and unconditionally release him and terminate all ongoing proceedings.

Duterte lawyers ask ICC to end case, demand immediate release

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Duterte lawyers ask ICC to end case, demand immediate release

Jonathan Magistrado,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 15, 2025 08:04 AM PHT

Read More:

International Criminal Court

Rodrigo Duterte

Nicholas Kaufman

War on Drugs

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