MANILA — The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors has once again rejected the move of former President Rodrigo Duterte to disqualify two judges from deciding on the “jurisdiction” issue.
Duterte’s main counsel Nicholas Kaufman earlier asked the disqualification of judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera from ruling on their challenge to the jurisdiction of the court over Duterte.
In response, deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, representing the Office of the Prosecutor, pointed out four main arguments in rejecting Duterte’s request:
1) A high threshold must be satisfied to rebut the presumption of judicial impartiality
2) Judges regularly adjudicate the same, or similar, legal issues
3) Adjudicating on jurisdiction more than once is explicitly foreseen in the Statute
4) The Judges’ preliminary determinations on jurisdiction do not amount to perceived bias
The prosecution explained that the two judges’ earlier determinations were “preliminary in nature” and made “in the absence of any defense observations on the issue.”
“The defense request should be rejected because it fails to call into question the presumption of impartiality attached to the Judges. Contrary to the Defense’s position, the Judges have not ‘already predetermined the outcome of the jurisdictional dispute in [the Prosecution’s] favor’,” the prosecution said.
“[T]he Judges’ prior ruling does not amount to any perceived bias in this case, and any conclusion to the contrary would result in the untenable situation where a judge may be barred from issuing decisions on the same legal issue more than once,” it added.
Duterte, 80, is currently detained at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands for charges of crimes against humanity over his brutal war on drugs. He is awaiting a confirmation of charges hearing in September./PN
