ICC denies Rodrigo Duterte camp's appeal request over confirmation of charges

The International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber I has denied the request for leave of the defense lawyers of former President Rodrigo Duterte to appeal the tribunal's decision on the confirmation of charges against him in connection with the killings under his war on drugs.

In a 12-page decision, presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and
Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera unanimously rejected the request for leave.

In a document dated April 29, defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman said the impugned decision raised two appealable issues.

The first issue was whether the Pre-Trial Chamber erred by adopting a “flexible approach” and overbroadly delineating the scope of the charges.

The second issue was whether the Pre-Trial Chamber erred in law by failing to articulate a reasoned evidentiary basis for confirming the charges.

Regarding the Pre-Trial Chamber’s adoption of an impermissibly “flexible” approach and “overbroadly delineating the scope of the charges,” the Prosecution responded that the Chamber defined the “parameters of the charges.”

“The Prosecution asserts that, consistent with this jurisprudence, the Chamber ‘consider[ed] the scale of criminality and alleged mode of individual criminal responsibility in this case’ and ‘ruled that ‘a broad approach to the scope of the charges through illustrative examples of relevant incidents may indeed be necessary to cover the extent of Mr Duterte’s alleged criminality,’” the document read.

“In light of the above, the Chamber considers that the First Proposed Issue mischaracterises the Confirmation Decision as to the matter of the proper delineation of the charges,” it added.

In response to the second issue that the Chamber erred in law by failing to articulate a reasoned evidentiary basis for confirming the charges, the Prosecution said that the Chamber “properly linked its findings to the evidence.”

“It submits that the Chamber explained its approach, consisting of assessing the evidence submitted by the Prosecution and the Defence, but referring only to those items of evidence it considered necessary to show the line of reasoning underpinning its conclusions, which is consistent with recent confirmation decisions and the purpose of the confirmation proceedings,” the decision read.

The Prosecution also said that the Chamber “addressed a number of arguments raised by the Defence, though it was not required to address all of the arguments raised by the parties and participants.”

“As such, it contends that the Defence misrepresents the Confirmation Decision and shows a mere disagreement with the Chamber’s approach to evidentiary matters,” the document added.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I on April 23 confirmed the charges of crimes against humanity against former President Rodrigo Duterte in connection with the killings in his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and when he was President.

In a 50-page document, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I committed Duterte to face trial on the charges as confirmed, and ordered the court registrar to transmit the decision confirmation of charges and the record of the proceedings.

The decision to confirm the charges came a day after the Appeals Chamber denied Duterte's appeal of the ICC's jurisdiction over his cases, which his defense lawyer questioned. The appeals chamber also ruled that Duterte's request for release had been rendered moot.

• Count 1: Murder as a crime against humanity in Davao City during the mayoral period of at least the 19 victims, between 2013 and around June 2016, through indirect co-perpetration, ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting;
• Count 2: Murder as a crime against humanity of ‘high-value targets’ in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period of at least the 14 victims between around July 2016 and July 2017, through indirect co-perpetration, and/or ordering and/or inducing and/or 25(3)(c) (aiding and abetting); and
• Count 3: Murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity in barangay clearance operations in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period of at least the 45 victims (43 murders and two attempted murders) between around July 2016 and September 2018, through indirect co-perpetration, ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting.

“The Chamber finds that there are substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is criminally responsible for the crimes charged in Counts 1-3 as an indirect co-perpetrator, and/or for ordering and/or inducing, and/or for aiding and abetting the commission of the crimes,” the pre-trial chamber said. –NB, GMA News