The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber 1 denied the petition of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s camp to disqualify two judges from deciding on the jurisdiction issue.
Duterte’s camp claimed that Judges Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Maria del Socorro Flores Liera were perceived to be biased.
In a four-page decision signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc, it was stated that a judge’s excusal should be their own decision, not because of objections from parties involved.
Previously, Duterte’s legal team challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction over the case, arguing that the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019 means the ICC has no authority.
Duterte’s lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dr. Dov Jacobs, counsels for Duterte, said in their submission to the ICC dated May 1, 2025 that the court “is not in a position to exercise jurisdiction in the Philippines situation after the country’s effective withdrawal from the Rome Statute.”
“The jurisdictional framework of the Rome Statute is clear: A State must be a State Party at the time of the exercise of jurisdiction,” the submission stated.
The jurisdiction challenge is still pending before the Pre Trial Chamber but ICC spokesperson Dr. Fadi El Abdallah, said the ICC did not lose its jurisdiction on the alleged crimes against humanity committed between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019.
El Abdallah also cited ICC jurisprudence in the case of Burundi, where the ICC retained jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in the east African country during its Rome Statute membership from December 1, 2004 to October 26, 2017 despite its withdrawal on October 27, 2017.
The series of petitions were submitted to the court ahead of the scheduled Pre Trial Chamber’s confirmation of charges hearings on September 23-26, 2025.
(ICC photo)
Abner is an award-winning journalist. He received the prestigious 2015 Titus Brandsma Award for Community Communication in the Philippines and participated in the 2016 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the United States of America, sponsored by the US Embassy in the Philippines. Founder of WATCH NORTH COTABATO, a media-citizens’ transparency group. He worked as a correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and CNN Philippines. His experience in broadcasting includes anchoring for Brigada News FM in Kidapawan and General Santos City and Brigada News TV. He anchors Tira Brigada via 105.1 Brigada News FM Manila, Mondays-Saturdays.