ICC Rejects Duterte Appeal, Advances Drug War Case

The International Criminal Court in The Hague rejected an appeal from former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's defense team on Wednesday, upholding the tribunal's jurisdiction over charges of crimes against humanity tied to his administration's antidrug campaign. The ruling clears a key legal obstacle and allows proceedings to advance against the 81-year-old Duterte, who has been in custody at the court since his arrest in Manila in March 2025.

Appeals judges, in a decision delivered by a five-member panel presided over by Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, dismissed all four grounds of the defense's challenge. The team had argued that the ICC lacked authority following the Philippines' withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019. However, the chamber affirmed a prior ruling by Pre-Trial Chamber I from October 2025, stating that the court's jurisdiction persists because a preliminary examination into the alleged crimes began in February 2018, while the Philippines was still a state party to the treaty. The judges found no legal error in the lower court's interpretation of the statute's provisions on withdrawal and ongoing investigations.

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