ICC prosecutors urge dismissal of Philippine appeal to suspend reopened drug war probe

The International Criminal Court Prosecutor's Office urged the ICC Appeals Chamber to dismiss the Philippine Government's application for the suspension of the reopening of the drug war investigation.

In its February 16, 2023 response to the Philippine appeal, the Prosecutor's Office pointed out that the Appeals Chamber, in its decisions, consistently considered whether the implementation of a decision under appeal would:

• create an irreversible situation that could not be corrected even if the Appeals Chamber eventually were to find in favor of the appellant,
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• would lead to consequences that would be very difficult to correct and may be irreversible, or
• could potentially defeat the purpose of the appeal.

Given these conditions, the ICC Prosecutors Office argued that suspending the drug war probe was unnecessary because the Philippines failed to show that restarting the probe would create an irreversible situation, or one that would be very difficult to correct, or that could potentially defeat the purpose of the appeal.

"No such grounds for granting suspensive effect exist," the office wrote in its response.

"While the Appeals Chamber decides on the merits of the appeal, the Philippines can continue with its investigations and domestic
proceedings irrespective of the ongoing Prosecution’s investigation," they added.

Furthermore, the Appeals Chamber could reverse, confirm or amend the decision to restart the probe irrespective of the Prosecution’s investigation.

And should the Appeals Chamber eventually decide to reverse the decision to restart the probe, any relevant investigation by the Prosecution would be discontinued.

The International Criminal Court authorized the reopening of an inquiry into former President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war in January 2023 after it was suspended in November 2019 after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations.

On January 27, the Philippine Government said it intended to appeal the resumption of the ICC inquiry into the drug war before the Appeals Chamber. — DVM, GMA Integrated News