Why was ICC prosecutor Karim Khan disqualified from Duterte’s case? 

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been disqualified from the war crimes case against former president Rodrigo Duterte due to a possible conflict of interest, according to the decision by the Appeals Chamber on October 2. 

But why was Khan disqualified from the case?

It stemmed from the appeal of Duterte’s defense team on August 7, when they claimed that Khan previously represented the alleged victims of the Duterte administration’s drug war as a private lawyer and “seemingly exploited” the information he gathered when he became chief ICC prosecutor in June 2021.

“When assuming the role of Chief Prosecutor in June 2021, and proceeding to oversee the investigation in the Philippines, Mr. Khan took on the statutory obligation of actively seeking exculpatory evidence. Yet such exculpatory evidence could, by its very nature, cast doubt on the testimony provided by the same people whose interests he had been charged to protect,” the defense team argued. “There is nothing to suggest that Mr. Khan has sought a waiver from [REDACTED] the '[REDACTED] victims' that he had formerly represented.” 

The Duterte camp also cited the sexual misconduct allegations against Khan. 

“Additionally, Mr. Khan’s current self-imposed leave of absence to deal with allegations of sexual abuse and retaliatory acts perpetrated against his staff rebuts the presumption to which he would otherwise be entitled; namely, that he is of ‘high moral’ character and that his notifications should be taken as gospel,” the defense team said.

On August 18, Khan opposed the request to disqualify him from the case and maintained there was no conflict of interest on his part. 

“The Prosecutor did not represent either of the two individuals that he met in 2018 and which were referred to in the Second notification. They were not amongst the victims that he represented,” said Khan in a filing addressed to the Appeals Chamber. 

“As a result, the Prosecutor did not owe any relevant obligation to those putative witnesses and, certainly, does not owe any obligation to them which subsisted after his withdrawal from that instruction seven years ago. No conflict of interest could therefore arise from the Prosecutor’s obligation to investigate incriminating and exonerating circumstances equally in relation to those witnesses.”

Further, Khan argued that “the Disqualification Request contains a series of speculative and, at times, wholly untrue ad hominem attacks.” 

He also pointed out that he took a leave of absence in May 2025 and “has played no role in the situation in the Philippines or any ongoing case since that date.” 

The Appeals Chamber granted the defense's request on Oct. 2. The decision was made public on Oct. 15.

It noted that "a reasonable observer would conclude that, in light of the nature and the extent to the Prosecutor’s involvement in the Article 15 Communication, he could be expected to have formed an opinion on the individual criminal responsibility of Mr. Duterte, that could adversely affect the required impartiality in his current role."

"Even considering the marked difference in the respective roles and functions of the judges and the Prosecutor in the proceedings, the Appeals Chamber considers that a fair-minded and reasonable observer could conclude that there is a reasonable appearance of bias in the specific circumstances of the present case," the Appeals Chamber added.

Although there is a high threshold required in disqualifying a prosecutor, the Appeals Chamber pointed out that Khan's involvement was "significantly intense and multifaceted."

"Bearing the above in mind, and noting the Appeals Chamber’s duty to ensure fairness throughout the entirety of the proceedings, thereby preserving their integrity, the Appeals Chamber is of the view that in the specific circumstances at hand, a reasonable observer could expect the Prosecutor to have formed an opinion that, objectively, could adversely affect his required impartiality in the case at hand," it added.

ICC Spokesperson Fadi el Abdallah, meanwhile, said that the disqualification of Khan "has no impact on the ongoing case" against Duterte.

"This decision does not affect the continuation of the proceedings in this case, which is led from the Office of the Prosecutor by Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang... The Office has been able to advance the case against Mr Duterte solely on the strength of independently gathered evidence, and information collected from a wide range of sources, including interviews with witnesses, information from States, international partners, and civil society, as well as publicly available information," Abdallah said. 

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities on March 11 based on a warrant issued by the ICC.

He is currently detained at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague for his alleged crimes against humanity in connection with killings under his war on drugs when he was Davao City mayor and during his term as President. — JMA, GMA Integrated News