The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I has denied a request from former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s legal team to disqualify two judges from handling jurisdictional matters in his case.
Filed on May 1, 2025, the defense’s “Invitation for Excusal” urged Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera to recuse themselves, citing concerns that their earlier decisions in related Philippine proceedings could give rise to a “perception of bias.”
However, the Chamber, led by Judge Iulia Antonnella Motoc, firmly dismissed the plea. Referring to Article 41 of the Rome Statute and ICC procedural norms, the Chamber explained that only the judges in question—or the Court’s Presidency—have the authority to initiate an excusal. It emphasized that the defense’s attempt to have the judges removed “lacks procedural propriety.”
The prosecution, which had asked the Chamber to reject the request, was backed by the court’s ruling.
In addition to dismissing the motion, the Chamber ordered that two previously confidential submissions concerning the matter be made public, in a move to uphold judicial transparency.
This development allows the current panel of judges to continue deliberating whether the ICC holds jurisdiction in Duterte’s case.
The former president is facing accusations of crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s contentious anti-drug campaign, which has been blamed for thousands of deaths.
