Presumption of regularity

SKETCHES

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

With former president Rodrigo Duterte finally facing the International Criminal Court last Friday, even if only by video link, it looks like there's no more turning back: the ICC has acquired jurisdiction over him, with the Philippine government's consent, so he will just have to face the charges.

Although the introductory hearing took place just two days after his arrival in The Hague, lawyers familiar with ICC proceedings say the formal trial itself could drag on for years.

The next step in the process, after the introductory phase last Friday, is the hearing in September on the confirmation of charges.

Until then, Duterte's camp can challenge the ICC's jurisdiction, including his arrest. We already know the argument of his camp — that the ICC lost jurisdiction over his case following the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute, and his arrest is tantamount to a "state kidnapping" or, as his former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea put it before the court, "extrajudicial rendition."

Medialdea described Duterte as a "prize catch" of a "troubled institution." ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, a British-Pakistani, is under investigation by the United Nations on charges of sexual harassment filed by a lawyer. He claims innocence, but some quarters say it may be best for him to go on leave pending his investigation to preserve the credibility of the ICC.