Working at the ICC
I was appointed as one of the three Common Legal Representatives of Victims (CLRV) on Jan. 26, 2026 in the ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation against former President Rodrigo Duterte. I was appointed as CLRV together with my Centerlaw colleague, Gilbert Andres, and the head of the ICC’s Office of the Public Counsel for Victims, Paolina Massidda.
While I should no longer write about my views on the merits of the case, because my opinion will necessarily be tainted with bias, I wish to share my experiences and impressions on working at the international court.
As CLRV, we are assigned a room inside the ICC building, in the same way that the defense team of Duterte is also assigned its own room. We share our room with other lawyers representing victims in other cases being heard at the court. Our room is essentially a workstation, with tables, chairs, and lots of computers, and no frills.
The first impression one gets upon getting introduced to various ICC offices, in order to comply with requirements and to obtain briefings, is that the court lives up to its nature as an “international” institution. One meets personnel who come from different countries in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. One hears different languages spoken and a variety of English accents. The court is a mini United Nations.
Another impression one gets is that the ICC systems employ sophisticated software, for its security, data storage, email, and all aspects of its operations. A colleague and I both feel like we are in a James Bond movie when we open our ICC assigned emails and when we enter parts of the building, because of the advance technology security features.
Inside the ICC courtroom, one notices easily the lack of any of the trappings usually found in justice halls. Except for two ICC flags that flank both sides of the stage for the judges, the courtroom walls are barren of images, symbols, and logos. The colors are shades of gray and beige. The courtroom is full of oversized computer monitors that allow one to have access to the case records, emails, and a running transcript of the hearings that one can read in real time, while the court proceedings are ongoing. One uses a headset to hear the proceedings, and there are English and French translations that one can choose to listen from. The only ritual performed at the hearing is that everyone inside the courtroom, including the judges, bow to each other before the start of the proceedings.
During lunch breaks, one experiences the egalitarian culture of the court because judges line up, together with all court personnel, to get their food and pay at the cafeteria. One can also bring a packed lunch and eat at the mess hall. Drinking water is taken from the water faucet.
The ICC employs a paperless system in the handling of its cases. All the submissions of the parties and participants, court orders and decisions, and transcripts of proceedings and testimonies, are all submitted via electronic mail. There are no voluminous case folders that are normally seen in our own courts.
Case parties have to prepare two versions of every pleading they submit to the court. One is a confidential version that’s only intended for the court and the case parties and participants, and a redacted version that is posted online and available for the public to read. The redacted version is stripped of sensitive facts that may compromise the security of witnesses and victims, and that may compromise still ongoing investigation.
What impresses me the most is the high work ethics of everyone I have met so far at the court. There is so much work that go behind the scenes. I am most impressed at the personnel at the Victims Participation and Reparations Section who really show exemplary dedication to their work in helping victims who desire to participate in the cases filed in the ICC. I am equally impressed at how the prosecution meticulously prepares its evidence, and document how it obtained every evidence. Seeing firsthand at how my colleague, Massidda, juggle multiple tasks, and still get heavily involved in the nitty-gritty of the Duterte case we jointly handle, shows remarkable and outstanding dedication to work.
It is highly regrettable and condemnable that the United States has imposed sanctions on some of the ICC judges and prosecutors, all because the court has not withheld exercising its mandate to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in Palestine by Israel, a close US ally, and potential crimes committed by US personnel in Afghanistan.
The ICC is truly the last resort of people who are victims of the “most serious crimes that deeply shock the conscience of humanity” and who have no chance of obtaining justice from national courts. For the sake of the civilized world, the 125 countries who are signatories to the ICC must defend and uphold this bastion of international accountability.
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