Prosecution, victims: Duterte can’t seek charges refiling at trial stage

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution and the victims’ lawyers told a chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that the lawyers of former President Rodrigo Duterte cannot challenge the scope and form of the charges now that he is on his way to trial.

Both the prosecution and the common legal representative of victims (CLRVs) expressed their objections, in separate filings dated Sept. 10, to the motion of the defense calling for the amendment of the charges against Duterte, who is facing three counts of murder as a crime against humanity.

The camp of Duterte, in a filing on Aug. 31, specifically wants the Trial Chamber (TC) III to direct the prosecution to refile a set of charges that “properly informs the accused of the case he needs to meet,” including further defining the scope in terms of counts and coming up with an “exhaustive list underpinning acts” to represent the entirety of the charges. 

READ: Prosec opposes expert verification of open-source evidence in ICC trial

The prosecution, which charged Duterte for the killing of 76 individuals in 49 incidents under his so-called war on drugs, opposed the motion because the questions on the “adequacy” posed by the defense had already been determined and affirmed by the pre-trial chamber (PTC).

“[T]he three counts each have a clear temporal, geographical and material scope, and this is consistent with the requirements of article 74(2) of the Statute. The Defence’s mere disagreement with the analysis of the Pre-Trial Chamber is insufficient to show any defect,” the prosecution said in its 10-page response to the motion.

The CLRVs, for its part, asked for the outright rejection of the motion of Duterte’s camp for being “procedurally misconceived.”

They said the defense cannot just ask the TC III to reopen the issue “under the guise of a motion concerning the ‘form’ of the charges.”

“[S]hould the Chamber consider that the defence genuinely seeks to challenge defects in the (document containing charges) itself, such objections belong to the pre-confirmation stage and cannot now be raised before the Trial Chamber,” they said in a 10-page response.

The defense merely reiterated its disagreement with the PTC’s earlier decision and “advance[d] no argument” to warrant a reversal, the CLRVs said.

The trial of Duterte, who is detained in The Hague, is slated to begin on Nov. 30 and is seen to continue until next year. /mr