The move of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team to formally challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed during his presidency is not surprising, said Kristina Conti, assistant to counsel of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a television interview on Friday, Conti said that the prosecution team was expecting Duterte’s camp to question the ICC’s jurisdiction, arguing that the Court no longer has authority to proceed after the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in March 2019.

“They said that the ICC has no jurisdiction, and it took them about a month and a half to formalize this question or challenge over the jurisdiction,” Conti said.

“It is no surprise as well because this has been previously raised by the Philippine government in their submissions regarding the deferral of an investigation,” Conti added.

Conti reaffirmed the prosecution’s stand on the jurisdiction of the ICC over the Duterte war on drugs case, stating that the court had already opened a preliminary investigation in February 2018 before the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute.

“The ICC retains jurisdiction over any matter under consideration by the court even after it has withdrawn,” Conti said.

Duterte’s legal team, led by Nicholas Kaufman, previously filed the 38-page challenge dated May 1 to urge the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to dismiss the case on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction. Yzabela Velez-White/DMS