ICC could throw out Duterte's case

THE HAGUE: Rodrigo Duterte's lead lawyer said on Sunday there was a "compelling" argument to throw out the International Criminal Court (ICC) case against the former Philippines president before it even comes to trial.

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Nicholas Kaufman told AFP in an interview in The Hague he hoped to stop the case before the ICC confirms the charges against Mr Duterte by arguing the court cannot exercise its jurisdiction. He said the Philippines' withdrawal from the court had become effective well before an investigation was authorised.

Mr Duterte, 30, faces a charge of crimes against humanity for murder over his "war on drugs" that claimed the lives of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

British Israeli lawyer Kaufman, 56, said: "Coming back to the jurisdictional point, obviously you don't need to be that dean of a law faculty to realise that that's going to be a huge issue at pre-trial.

"I think that the jurisdictional argument is compelling as defence counsel.