ICC judgment on Duterte’s appeal re court’s jurisdiction out on April 22

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 08 April)) – The International Criminal Court’s Appeals Chamber will deliver in open court on April 22 its judgment on the appeal of former President Rodrigo Duterte challenging the October 2025 ruling of the Pre-Trial Chamber 1 that it has jurisdiction over his case.

The ICC announced through its website on April 8 that the judgment will be delivered in open court at 11 a.m. on April 22 in The Hague, the Netherlands where Duterte has been detained since his arrival there on March 12, 2025, a day after his arrest at the airport in Manila. |

The decision of the Appeals Chamber comes six days before April 28, the 60^th day since the last day of the Confirmation of Charges where the judges heard the oral submissions of the prosecutor, the common legal representatives of the victims, and the legal team representing Duterte, from February 23, 24, 26 and 27. 

At the end of the hearing on February 27, Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc said the Chamber will deliberate on whether to confirm the charges against Duterte, and that it would render its decision “within 60 days” – or on or before April 28.

^{Former President Rodrigo Duterte, long-time mayor of Davao City, makes his first appearance before the International Criminal Court via video link from his detention center in The Hague, the Netherlands, on March 14, three days after he was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon arrival from Hong Kong. He was arrested in connection with his alleged crime against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs during his term as mayor, and later as president. ICC photo}

Duterte spent his 81^st birthday on March 28 in The Hague, his second birthday in the detention facility.

According to the ICC,  the Pre-Trial Chamber may either confirm the charges for which it has determined there is sufficient evidence and commit Duterte to trial before a Trial Chamber, or decline to confirm the charges where evidence is lacking and terminate the proceedings against him.

The Pre-Trial chamber may also “adjourn the hearing and request the Prosecutor to provide further evidence, to conduct further investigations, or to amend any charge for which the evidence submitted appears to establish a crime other than the one charged was committed.”

The 81-year old Duterte is facing three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, involving at least 76 deaths during his bloody war on drugs  — 19 in Davao City while serving as mayor from 2013 to 2016, and 57 while serving as President between 2016 and 2018. 

The crimes were allegedly committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population during Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs” in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019  — when the Philippines was still a signatory to the Rome Statute.

But the ICC  noted that the number of victims is only a representative sample of the thousands believed to have been killed extrajudicially within the period. 

The Prosecution charged Duterte for the 76 murders and two attempted murders “although the actual scale of victimization during the charged period was significantly greater, as reflected in the widespread nature of the attack,” the ICC said.

The April 22 judgment at 11 a.m. in The Hague (5 p.m. in the Philippines), can be followed live on the Court’s website. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)