MANILA – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) plenary of judges unanimously rejected the motion of former president Rodrigo Duterte to disqualify two judges from ruling on the challenge to the court’s jurisdiction over his case.
According to ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane, the plenary of judges convened on June 9 to consider Duterte’s request to disqualify both Reine Adélaïde Sophia Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera.
“The plenary of judges, acting unanimously, decided to reject the Application. A fully reasoned decision of the plenary will follow,” Akane wrote on his decision released on late Tuesday night.
Duterte’s defense team requested the ICC to disqualify the judges from adjudicating on the issue of ICC jurisdiction, pointing out the two had “prior involvement in the most substantive legal question” in the case.
“The question of jurisdiction and the exercise thereof is a contentious – if not the most contentious – issue in the Case,” Duterte’s defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman said in their complaint.
“Deciding this matter in favor of the Defense will have far-reaching consequences on the future of the Situation,” he added.
Alapini-Gansou, Liera and presiding judge of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I Iulia Antoanella Motoc signed the arrest warrant against Duterte earlier this year.
The former chief executive, currently in custody of the ICC, is set to appear at the confirmation of charges hearing on September 23./PN
