ICC names 3 judges for Du30 trial
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has vouched for the integrity and expertise of the three members of the trial chamber that will handle the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Following the confirmation of all murder and attempted murder charges against Duterte last week, the ICC Presidency, led by Judge Tomoko Akane, endorsed the case against the former Philippine leader to the Trial Chamber III.
This will be composed of British judge Joanna Korner, South Korean judge Paek Kee-bong and French judge Nicolas Guillou.
Basis for selection
Oriane Maillet, the spokesperson of The Hague-based ICC, told reporters on Tuesday that the ICC judges are “persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective states for appointment to the highest judicial offices.”
With deep experience in international tribunals, the ICC judges were appointed “on the basis of their established competence in criminal law and procedure and in relevant areas of international law such as international humanitarian law and human rights law,” Maillet said.
ICC jurists are elected by the Assembly of States Parties, the legislative body made up of representatives from the 125 member-states of the international tribunal. At present, 125 countries are parties to the Rome Statute, the founding framework of the international tribunal.
Maillet earlier noted that the three-member trial chamber will come up with the processes for the next stage in Duterte’s case. This includes conducting status conferences and discussions with parties and participants to the case in order to determine the schedule of the trial and to put in place a “fair and expeditious conduct” of the proceedings.
It would also decide on preliminary issues, such as when and how evidence should be disclosed, she added.
The Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) I on April 23 found sufficient grounds to hold Duterte “criminally responsible” for the brutal killings of drug suspects in his war on drugs. It cited the former president’s own public pronouncements instructing police officers to gun down criminals, government data on drug-related deaths during police operations, and insider witnesses who were part of the “common plan” to “neutralize” alleged suspects.
Lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman had said he would ask the PTC I to allow it to appeal the decision.
Kristina Conti, an ICC-accredited lawyer who has been assisting the drug war victims, had estimated that the trial may start by October this year at the earliest or during the first quarter of next year.
Projected timetable
She noted that the proceedings may drag on for as long as 10 years, but said that there were cases in which the trial concluded in just three years.
The lawyers of the victims are also anticipating whether the PTC I would go after Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and other co-perpetrators identified by the prosecution in Duterte’s case.
For Conti, Dela Rosa and the other former high-ranking police officials may be charged with imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty as a crime against humanity in connection with the hundreds of thousands of questionable arrests made under Duterte’s drug war.
Their charges, should these prosper, would not affect the progress of Duterte’s trial, she said.
