Screenshot photo from Gikan Sa Masa Para sa Masa FB
NICHOLAS Kaufman, the defense lawyer of former President Rodrigo Duterte, is confident that the former president will be able to return to the Philippines before the confirmation of charges.
This, after the lawyers of former president Duterte have formally challenged the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged crimes against humanity committed in relation to his administration’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs.
In a 38-page filing dated May 1, defense lawyers Kaufman and Dov Jacobs said the “preconditions for the exercise of jurisdiction” were not met at the time when the Pre-Trial Chamber authorized an investigation on Sept. 15, 2021.
“The Republic of the Philippines was no longer a State Party to the Rome Statute at that critical point in time,” the defense challenge read.
Duterte’s lawyers, in their latest filing, claimed that all procedural steps taken in the case of Duterte “lack legal foundation and should be nullified forthwith.”
“The Defence requests the Pre-Trial Chamber find that there is no legal basis for the continuation of the proceedings against Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte and to order his immediate and unconditional release,” they asked the Pre-Trial Chamber I judges.
When asked if he is confident to the application of the jurisdictional strategy, Kaufman said, “I’ve said already it’s compelling argument but the ultimate talk is of that argumental judges themselves and it’s not for me to tell them how to find hopefully they would believe the correct decision and judgement and I hope they would accept my argument.”
When asked also if former President Rodrigo Duterte will be brought back to the Philippines before or even the confirmation of charges, he said, “That’s actually my ambition, yes.”
“As I told you already, just respect the process. Trust the lawyers to do their job properly, and we have to bring the right result to him,” he added.
Kaufman also shared that he had been monitoring the ongoing probe of the Senate on the illegal arrest and detention of former President Duterte.
“I have been following the proceedings in the Senate and read the final report, and I’ve seen a thorough work that has been done by Senator Imee Marcos mentioned, has been made even in the jurisdiction, they have competed and supposed the argument as well.”
When asked if the Senate inquiry favors the application of the jurisdictional arguments, he said, “Definitely, there can be arguments that can be derived from that report and will be used as reference made as well.”
Earlier, the ICC prosecutor maintained that it was authorized to investigate the alleged crimes committed in the Philippines when it was a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
“That the Philippines was not a State Party when the investigation was opened (on 15 September 2021) is immaterial and does not deprive the Court of jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed during the temporal scope of the investigation,” it told the ICC Appeals Chamber on April 4, 2023.
In 2018, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiated a preliminary examination of the situation in the Philippines. It prompted the Duterte administration to withdraw from the Rome Statute.
“Although the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute of the ICC took effect on 17 March 2019, as the Court has previously found in the context of the Burundi situation, the Court retains jurisdiction over crimes that are alleged to have occurred on the territory of that State during the period when it was a State Party to the Rome Statute. Moreover, these crimes are not subject to any statute of limitation,” Bensouda said in 2021.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte is currently detained at the ICC Detention Centre in Scheveningen, The Hague, following his arrest on March 8, 2025.
