THE jurisdictional challenge filed by lawyers of former president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a regular strategy by defense lawyers to delay court proceedings, an ICC-accredited lawyer said yesterday.
Lawyer Gilbert Andres, who is one of the five Filipino lawyers authorized to argue before the international tribunal, said he was not surprised when Duterte’s defense team filed their petition.
“Hindi na po bago ito. Di na kami nasurpresa dito. Bagkus, ito ay isang paraan para ma-delay ang proceedings, pero sige lang, magbibigay naman ang mga victims ng observations, views at comments (This is not new to us. We were not surprised by this. This is a strategy to delay the proceedings but the victims are ready to submit their observations, views, and comments),” Andres told Teleradyo Serbisyo in an interview yesterday morning.
“Ang mahalaga, bibigyan ang prosekusyon at ang mga biktima (ng pagkakataon) na mag-submit ng observations at comments. Nakahanda kami na sagutin itong mga legal issues (The important thing here is that the prosecution and the victims will be given the time to submit their observations and comments. We are ready to answer these legal issues),” Andres also said.
Andres said the prosecution team is confident that the ICC will proceed with the trial of the case.
In a 38-page filing, Duterte’s lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs said the ICC overstepped its authority when it approved the investigation into the so-called “war on drugs” of the then Duterte administration in September 2021 even when Manila was no longer a member-state of the Rome Statute, which is the founding treaty that created the ICC.
Andres and former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said that in their view, the jurisdictional challenge would not affect the case against the 80-year-old former president, who is accused of being an indirect co-perpetrator of murder as a crime against humanity in relation to his administration’s crackdown against illegal drugs.
“Usually, ang mga international criminal tribunals hesitant ‘yan na i-divest sila ng jurisdictional when it involve crimes against humanity, starting from the Eichmann trial to the cases in the former Yugoslavia (Usually, international criminal tribunals are hesitant when it comes to divesting them of jurisdiction involving crimes against humanity, starting from the Eichmann trial to the cases in the former Yugoslavia),” Andres said, referring to the case of Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi officer who was responsible for organizing the deportation and murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust and was later tried and executed in Israel.
For his part, Colmenares said the jurisdictional challenge was expected since the defense lawyers “have no other way to defend former president Duterte, except on jurisdiction.”
“They will have to argue on jurisdiction because if the charges are confirmed and it goes to trial, they will not be able to surmount the evidence that Duterte ordered the killings of many people in his war on drugs,” Colmenares said.
Andres said it is up to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 to decide on the jurisdictional challenge filed by Duterte’s camp.
“Nasa jurisdiction po ng pre-trial chamber yan. Pwede sila mag-set ng hearing, pwede isama sa confirmation of charges (It is within the jurisdiction of the pre-trial chamber 1. It can set a hearing, or hold it during the confirmation of charges),” he said.
“Pero para sa amin, hindi nito maapektuhan ang legality ng pag-surender kay Duterte sa ICC (But for us, it will not affect the legality of the decision to surrender Duterte to the ICC),” he added.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Duterte after determining that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that he bears criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of murder.”
He was arrested last March 11 upon his arrival from Hong Kong. He was transported to the Netherlands on the same night and surrendered to the ICC.
Duterte first appeared via video link before the pre-trial chamber on March 14, three days after his arrest and surrender.
He is set to attend the confirmation of the charges against him on September 23.
