Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte appearing for the first time before the ICC judges on 14 March 2025. Image from the International Criminal Court

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748228729705Screen Shot 2025-05-26 at 11.05.12 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte appearing for the first time before the ICC judges on 14 March 2025. <em>Image from the International Criminal Court</em></span></span></span></div><p style="text-align:left">MANILA — The prosecutors in the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte has responded to his defense team&#x27;s move to disqualify 2 International Criminal Court (ICC) judges from deciding on the &quot;jurisdiction&quot; issue.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/14/duterte-lawyer-asks-icc-presidency-to-disqualify-judges-on-jurisdiction-issue-1542">Duterte lawyer asks ICC presidency to disqualify judges on jurisdiction issue</a></div><p>Duterte&#x27;s main counsel Nicholas Kaufman on May 12 asked the ICC to disqualify judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera from ruling on their challenge to the jurisdiction of the court over Duterte.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/dozens-of-cops-at-naia-ahead-of-rodrigo-duterte-s-expected-arrival-0951">Ex-President Duterte arrested on ICC warrant for alleged crimes against humanity</a></div><p>Kaufman had said that because the two were the ones who authorized the commencement of the investigation, it was &quot;not reasonable to expect a judge who has recently expressed a highly publicized position on a specific legal issue to depart from that view.&quot;</p><div><strong>PROSECUTION&#x27;S RESPONSE</strong></div><p>In its response dated May 22, deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, representing the Office of the Prosecutor, formally rejected the Duterte camp&#x27;s request, citing 4 main arguments:</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/16/icc-prosecutor-under-investigation-steps-aside-temporarily-2324">ICC prosecutor, under investigation, steps aside temporarily</a></div><p>1) A high threshold must be satisfied to rebut the presumption of judicial impartiality</p><p>2) Judges regularly adjudicate the same, or similar, legal issues</p><p>3) Adjudicating on jurisdiction more than once is explicitly foreseen in the Statute</p><p>4) The Judges’ preliminary determinations on jurisdiction do not amount to perceived bias</p><p>The prosecution explained that 2 judges&#x27; earlier determinations were &quot;preliminary in nature&quot; and made &quot;in the absence of any defense observations on the issue.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/07/19/23/how-the-iccs-ph-drug-war-probe-was-almost-lost-on-the-issue-of-jurisdiction">How the ICC&#x27;s PH drug war probe was almost lost on the issue of jurisdiction</a></div><p>&quot;The defense request should be rejected because it fails to call into question the presumption of impartiality attached to the Judges. Contrary to the Defense’s position, the Judges have not &#x27;already predetermined the outcome of the jurisdictional dispute in [the Prosecution’s] favor&#x27;,&quot; the prosecution said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/1/duterte-s-lawyers-challenge-icc-jurisdiction-0045">Duterte&#x27;s lawyers challenge ICC jurisdiction</a></div><p>&quot;[T]he Judges’ prior ruling does not amount to any perceived bias in this case, and any conclusion to the contrary would result in the untenable situation where a judge may be barred from issuing decisions on the same legal issue more than once,&quot; it added.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/rodrigo-duterte-and-icc-from-years-long-probe-to-unexpected-arrest-1927">Rodrigo Duterte and ICC: From years-long probe to &#x27;unexpected&#x27; arrest</a></div><p>Duterte, 80, is currently held by the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity over his brutal war on drugs. He is awaiting a confirmation of charges hearing in September.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X1avulIOpuo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>In its response dated May 22, the Office of the Prosecutor cited 4 main arguments in <i>rejecting the Duterte camp's request.</i></p>

In its response dated May 22, the Office of the Prosecutor cited 4 main arguments in rejecting the Duterte camp's request.

ICC prosecutors oppose Duterte camp's move to disqualify 2 judges

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ICC prosecutors oppose Duterte camp's move to disqualify 2 judges

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 26, 2025 11:28 AM PHT

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