Who is Peter Haynes?

Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte has tapped British barrister Peter Haynes as his new legal counsel in the trial of his crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A prominent practitioner of international criminal and humanitarian law, Haynes served as the lawyer of Jean-Pierre Bemba, the minister of defence and senator of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The ICC overturned its previous decision and acquitted Bemba of war crimes and crimes against humanity in June 2018.

“At the ICC, he appeared for Jean-Pierre Bemba, the Minister of Defence and Senator of the Democratic Republic of Congo, famously securing his acquittal of all charges on appeal,” the St Philipps Barristers website said of Haynes.

He served as president of the International Criminal Court Bar Association from 2019 to 2021, becoming the first person to be reelected to the post.

In his LinkedIn profile, Haynes described himself as a “defence trial advocate with substantial experience before both the ad hoc international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court (ICC), including ‘the largest criminal trial since the second world war’ (Popovic et al.,). One of the few advocates to have conducted a trial at the ICC.”

According to a “24 Oras” report on Tuesday, Haynes has been practicing international criminal and humanitarian law for over 25 years and has handled cases such as murder, serious fraud, sexual offenses, and human trafficking.

The St Philipps Barristers website further described him as “one of the very few practitioners to have led cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia – where he appeared for the defence of General Vinko Pandurević in relation to the Srebrenica massacre – the ICC, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.”

In 2024, he was appointed by the ICC to represent Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda in the first in absentia hearings at the tribunal.

At the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, he represented the victims of the terrorist bombing in Beirut that killed Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Haynes has also appeared in cases involving charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and international terrorism.

The St Philipps Barristers website noted that the British barrister was “responsible for the development of jurisprudence, practice and procedure in the representation of victims” in international criminal and humanitarian law.

He also appeared for both the prosecution and the defense inter alia in cases of murder, serious fraud, sexual offenses, human trafficking and complex conspiracies.

In addition, Haynes also acted as “lead counsel in a class action against the British government concerning the torture of prisoners in Cyprus; taken proceedings against the ICC seeking $75 million in damages for the losses arising from the freezing of Bemba’s assets and represented the Tamil community in an appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission relating to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam.”

Haynes replaced Nicholas Kaufman as Duterte’s lead counsel in his case before the ICC for his war on illegal drugs. The ICC Trial Chamber III earlier granted Kaufman’s withdrawal as Duterte’s lawyer.

A three-page filing by Kaufman dated May 8 stated that Haynes was already informed of the deadlines and assured that he would be able to attend the status conference set for May 27.

“Counsel has spoken to Mr. Haynes, who has indeed confirmed that he is ready, willing, and able to assume immediate representation and that his terms of engagement have been agreed,” Kaufman said in his filing.

He added: “I am convinced that the continuity and efficacy of Mr Duterte’s representation will remain assured through Mr Haynes, who has a wealth of experience at the International Criminal Court, and the existing defence team. Counsel thanks Mr Haynes for his extremely graceful, supportive and collegial approach.” — JMA, GMA News