ICC Rejects Rody Camp's Plea to Remove 2 Judges

International Criminal Court pre-trial judges have dismissed the petition of lawyers of former president Rodrigo Duterte to "excuse" two judges from adjudicating the defense team's challenge to the ICC's jurisdiction over the case.

- By JANVIC MATEO

In a four-page decision dated May 6, the ICC Pre-Trial Court I denied the defense's request that Judges Reine Adellaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Marila del Socorro Flores Liera be barred temporarily from exercising their functions in relation to the jurisdiction issue.

The defense said that preventing the two judges from adjudicating the jurisdiction issue was "justified and, moreover, appropriate given the possibility of perceived bias," citing their previous rulings on the case.

The prosecution has contested the request.

In its ruling, the Pre-Trial Chamber I said "a judge's excusal from the exercise of a function may only be sought by the concerned judge directly before the [ICC] Presidency." It noted that this is different from a disqualification that the prosecution or the person being investigated or prosecuted may submit to the ICC presidency.

"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 course of action 'lacks procedural propriety," it added.

The decision was signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, along with Alapini-Gansou and Liera.