Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team has submitted a new argument before the International Criminal Court (ICC), formally appealing for his “immediate” and “unconditionally release.”
The 21-page filing was transmitted to ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I on November 14.
Central to their appeal is the claim that the ICC committed “errors” in asserting jurisdiction over the Philippines, insisting that the Court should not proceed with the case because the country had already withdrawn from the Rome Statute.
Citing the Chamber’s own words, the document notes: “The Pre-Trial Chamber further ruled that, for the purposes of articles 12(2) and 13(c) of the Statute, the Court may not exercise its jurisdiction if, at the time that the Prosecutor has initiated an investigation, the State concerned is no longer a Party to the Statute[…]” It adds the Chamber viewed Article 127 as “specifically enacted as lex specialis to set out the regime that would apply to the exceptional circumstance of a State that withdraws from the Statute[…]”
Duterte’s lawyers argued that the phrase “lex specialis” does not appear in any of the 10,531 pages of Rome Statute preparatory negotiations.
“The Impugned Decision does not cite a single authoritative source in support of its contention that Article 127(2) was ‘specifically enacted as lex specialis’[…]” they emphasized.
They further contended that the Pre-Trial Chamber contradicted its own reasoning and that the Prosecution cannot now support the decision “out of intellectual consistency.”
The defense also disputed the Chamber’s position that preliminary examinations are statutory processes governed by Article 15 and related rules.
“The Pre-Trial Chamber is mistaken in asserting that a preliminary examination is a statutory process[…]” they said, arguing instead that prosecutors face “no legal or jurisdictional limitations” in opening such inquiries, even involving non-State Parties.
In closing, Duterte’s camp urged the Chamber to reverse its prior rulings, declare that there is no legal basis to continue the ICC proceedings, and order the former president’s swift and “unconditional release.”