ICC reckoning day closes in on DU30

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Appeals Chamber will decide on 22 April whether it has jurisdiction over the case against former President Rodrigo Duterte. The ruling could determine if proceedings before the tribunal will move forward.

According to a scheduling order, the judgment will be delivered in open court at 11 a.m. (The Hague time) by a five-member panel of judges.

Duterte’s legal team, led by British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, is contesting the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I’s 23 October 2025 ruling which dismissed the defense’s challenge to the court’s authority to hear the case.

In that earlier ruling, the pre-trial judges maintained that the ICC retained authority over the alleged crimes against humanity committed by Duterte in the Philippines during the period the country was a member of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the international tribunal.

The Appeals Chamber hearing the case is composed of Judges Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, Tomoko Akane, Solomy Balungi Bossa, Gocha Lordkipanidze and Erdenebalsuren Damdin. The ruling will be streamed live on the ICC’s official website.

Challenge foiled

The chamber had previously dismissed Duterte’s challenge of the Court’s jurisdiction, saying it has the authority to “exercise its jurisdiction in the current case over the crimes attributed to Mr. Duterte that occurred within the territory of the Philippines while it was still a State Party.”

Following this, the former president’s legal team filed a Notice of Appeal against the decision and submitted its Appeal Brief on Jurisdiction on 14 November 2025.

The defense team contended that, as a non-member, the Philippines should be exempt from any investigation by the ICC, particularly of cases involving actions taken after the country’s withdrawal in 2019.

Duterte’s lawyers also sought his immediate and unconditional release.

Gained weight

Meanwhile, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte assured supporters that his father was well cared for in the custody of the ICC. He said the former president had gained weight.

“He’s being well taken care of. The doctors and nurses inside are good,” he said in an interview.

He said his father had some advice for Filipinos on the economic crisis.

“He said there really isn’t any good way to handle the current economic crisis. In Bisaya, he said ‘pugong lang’ — restrain from spending, restrain everything,” the younger Duterte said.