MANILA — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled that the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not exempt former President Rodrigo Duterte from prosecution for crimes against humanity linked to his bloody war on drugs, effectively reaffirming the tribunal’s authority to pursue the case.
In a unanimous 32-page decision, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I junked Duterte’s jurisdictional challenge and his request to delay the proceedings, declaring that the court retains jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed while the Philippines was still a State Party.
“The Chamber finds that the Court can exercise its jurisdiction in the present case over the crimes alleged against Mr. Duterte that were committed on the territory of the Philippines while it was a State Party,” the ruling stated.
The decision clears the way for the continuation of proceedings against the 80-year-old former leader, now detained at The Hague, who faces multiple counts of murder and attempted murder tied to thousands of extrajudicial killings during his anti-drug campaign.
Duterte’s counsel, Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, had insisted that the ICC lost authority after the Philippines formally withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019, arguing that “all procedural steps taken in the situation and, subsequently, in the case against Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, lack legal foundation and should be nullified forthwith.”
But the ICC judges rejected the argument, citing Article 127(2) of the Statute, which states that a country’s withdrawal does not affect matters already under investigation before the withdrawal took effect.
“The jurisdictional regime set out in Part 2 of the Statute continues to apply to this case as if the Philippines were still a Party to the Statute,” the court said, adding that the withdrawal “shall not prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court.”
The tribunal also emphasized that the Philippine government continued to engage with the ICC even after the withdrawal became effective — a point the judges said further reinforces the court’s jurisdiction.
“After the withdrawal of the Philippines had taken effect on 17 March 2019, the Philippines continued to engage with the Court. In particular, in November 2021 the Philippines requested a deferral of the investigation by the Prosecution… and, on 12 March 2025, Mr. Duterte was arrested by the authorities of the Philippines and surrendered to the Court,” the decision noted.
The chamber underscored that the withdrawal clause under the Rome Statute was meant precisely to prevent states from using withdrawal as a means to escape accountability.
“The Court may exercise its jurisdiction over any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective,” it stated, stressing that the Statute ensures that a state “is not able to abuse that right by shielding persons from justice.”
Duterte, arrested in March and turned over to the ICC soon after, faces 49 documented incidents tied to the anti-drug war, though prosecutors say the “actual scale of victimization during the charged period was significantly greater.”
The former president, who came to power in 2016 vowing to end illegal drugs and corruption within six months, oversaw a campaign that left thousands of Filipinos dead — mostly the poor — in what authorities claimed were legitimate police operations. Official government records list some 6,000 deaths, but human rights groups estimate the figure to be several times higher./PN
