The International Criminal Court Presidency has constituted the Trial Chamber composed of three judges who will hear the case against former president Rodrigo Duterte.
In a decision dated April 24, a day after all charges against Duterte were confirmed, the ICC Presidency appointed British Judge Joanna Korner, South Korean Judge Keebong Paek, and French Judge Nicolas Guillou to the chamber.
Korner, who joined the ICC in 2021, has 45 years of experience in criminal law as both judge and barrister. She served as a judge of the Crown Court of England and Wales, where she handled “the most serious and complex criminal cases including cases of fraud and murder,” according to the tribunal’s website. She was a senior prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for eight years.
Paek, an ICC judge since 2024, previously worked as a public prosecutor in South Korea from 1992. He held posts as deputy director and director of the country’s Ministry of Justice, and also served at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime where he provided support for the implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
Guillou, also elected to the ICC in 2024, began his career as an investigative judge. He later served as Chef de Cabinet to the President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and as Liaison Prosecutor at the United States Department of Justice. He has also held several positions within the French Ministry of Justice from 2006-2012.
All three judges have prior experience serving at the Trial Chambers of the ICC.
The ICC Presidency also ordered the transmission of the full record of proceedings on Duterte’s case to the Trial Chamber.
On April 23, the Pre-Trial Chamber unanimously confirmed all charges of murder as a crime against humanity filed against Duterte and committed him to a trial. The PTC said there were “substantial grounds to believe” that the former president was criminally responsible for killings linked to his anti-drugs campaign between Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.
The charges are grouped into three counts: killings in or around Davao City during Duterte’s tenure as mayor; killings of alleged high-value targets during his presidency; and killings and attempted killings carried out in so-called “Tokhang” or barangay clearing operations.
The Trial Chamber will determine whether the former president is guilty or not guilty of the charges. If convicted, he may face a sentence up to 30 years of imprisonment, or life imprisonment in extreme cases.
No date has yet been set for the trial proper.
ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti said the next steps after the formation of the chamber are generally administrative that will involve the cooperation of the prosecution, defense, and victims legal teams. A private status hearing session might also be scheduled soon, she added.
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