Arrest warrant legal, but surrendering Duterte to ICC not — Azcuna
The arrest warrant against former president Rodrigo Duterte is legal but his turnover to the International Criminal Court is not, according to retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Adolfo Azcuna.
MANILA, Philippines—Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Adolfo Azcuna believes the warrant of arrest used to apprehend former president Rodrigo Duterte is legal, but noted that the administration’s move to surrender him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is not.
During the Senate panel on foreign affairs’ Thursday hearing, Azcuna said the surrender is illegal because it must be pursuant to a treaty.
“Therefore, our own law — Section 17 of Republic Act 9851 brought back the Statute of Rome even after withdrawal because it requires that a surrender must be pursuant to the applicable treaty,” said Azcuna.
He said that this particularly requires the custodial state — namely the Philippines — to bring the arrested person to a local court to determine two things: whether or not the person is really the one named in the warrant, and whether or not the person has been informed of the charges against him or her.
READ: Torre, others expected at Duterte arrest inquiry
“These [were] not done. Therefore, there was, in my view, a violation of the act of surrender. This is in the forum of the Philippines, but in the forum of the ICC different rules apply. The rule in international law is that procedural laws are governed by the forum so procedural safeguards are applicable only to the forum,” Azcuna said.
However, the retired Supreme Court justice also noted that criminal proceedings before the ICC are governed by its own procedure in accordance with private international law.
“In the ICC I believe they follow what is called male captus, bene detentus — meaning that even if the arrest is illegal, the detention can be legal. It does not automatically mean that if the arrest was illegal, the person arrested must be released,” Azcuna said.
“Therefore, it depends on whether you’re talking about the Philippine forum or the ICC. The ICC, I believe, will follow their own procedure. Whereas in the Philippines, as it is now pending in a Philippine Supreme Court, in my view there is a violation and there will be consequences for that violation,” he added.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 by the power of a warrant from the ICC, which charged him with crimes against humanity for the bloody drug war he orchestrated when he was still in power.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. brushed off claims that Duterte’s arrest was political persecution.
According to the President, the government only complied with the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol, which executed the arrest warrant. He also emphasized that his administration did not cooperate with the ICC regarding Duterte’s case.
