The International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I denied the request of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team to remove two judges from his ongoing crimes against humanity trial.
In their petition, the former leader’s lawyers cited possible “perceived bias” based on the judges’ previous rulings on similar matters.
Specifically, they sought to excuse Judges Reine Adélaide Sophie Alapini Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera from the case.
A document released by the Office of the Prosecutor dated May 6 showed that Duterte’s defense filed the petition on May 1, the same day they also challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines.
The Court denied the petition in accordance with Article 41 of the Rome Statute.
“The Chamber recalls that, pursuant to article 41 of the Rome Statute and rules 34 and 35 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, a judge’s excusal from the exercise of a function may only be sought by the concerned judge directly before the Presidency, as opposed to disqualification for which the Prosecution or the person being investigated or prosecuted may submit a request before the Presidency,” the document reads.
“The possibility for that person to invite or request judges to seek excusal before the Presidency is thus not contemplated in the statutory texts. As stated by the Presidency, ‘no preemptive request may be made by the parties that a judge request his or her excusal’ and such a course of action ‘lacks procedural propriety’,” it added.
The ruling was signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antonella Motoc, along with Judges Alapini Gansou and Liera–the same judges who previously signed Duterte’s arrest warrant.
Earlier, the ICC Prosecutor submitted 139 items of evidence against Duterte, in preparation for the confirmation of charges scheduled for September 23, 2025.
An ICC document dated May 5 showed that Prosecutor Karim Khan submitted 139 items of evidence that are organized in four disclosure packages to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 on April 30.
The packages are labeled contextual elements, modes of liability, murders during Duterte’s term as mayor, and murders under barangay clearance operations during his term as president.
Official government records indicate that around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug operations.
However, human rights organizations contend that the number of fatalities is closer to 30,000 due to the unreported related slayings.
Many of those deaths are being labeled extrajudicial killings or “EJKs” because it is alleged that policemen carried them out at the behest of Duterte.
The former president is currently under the custody of the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “ICC denies Duterte camp’s request to remove two judges.”