The camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte is continuing efforts to derail the confirmation of charges hearings set to start at 5 p.m. (Manila time) tomorrow, Feb. 23, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Duterte’s counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, appealed on Feb. 20 the rejection by the Pre-Trial Chamber I of his request to disqualify the ICC-appointed common legal representatives of the victims, Joel Butuyan and Gilbert Andres, both of CenterLaw, a nongovernment organization engaged in strategic litigation on human rights and freedom of expression.
Kaufman also sought the removal of case manager Nicolene Arcaina, citing her former employment with CenterLaw.
Romel Bagares, former counsel of the Coalition for the ICC and previously with CenterLaw, said Duterte’s lawyers appear to be running out of grounds to delay the proceedings.
“They’ve tried everything and nothing has worked in their favor. It is in Duterte’s interest that the confirmation of charges does not happen; even just one confirmation of a charge among the many lodged against the suspect is one too many, and already a huge moral victory for the victims,” he said.
Earlier, the chamber said the confirmation hearing would proceed even without Duterte’s physical or virtual presence after he waived his right to attend the sessions scheduled for Feb. 23-24, 26-27.
The confirmation process determines whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe the accused committed the crimes alleged. If the charges are confirmed, in whole or in part, the case will be transferred to a Trial Chamber, which will conduct the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial.
In rejecting Kaufman’s request to disqualify Butuyan, Andres and Arcaina, the chamber, led by Presiding Judge Julia Antonella Motoc, noted “incoherences.”
It pointed out that while Kaufman initially argued the victims could be adequately represented by counsel from the Office of Public Counsel for Victims, he later asked that the appointments of Butuyan and Andres, along with “a counsel from the OPCV,” be revoked.
“The Chamber, therefore, urges the Defence to place substance over stylistic and theatrical formulation,” the decision said.
Kaufman argued that there was nothing “incoherent” or “theatrical” in the defense’s submissions on the matter.
On Arcaina, currently executive director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center, the chamber said the defense failed to show how her role negatively affects the obligations of the victims’ legal representatives.
In a Feb. 18 submission, Butuyan and Andres said the role and qualifications of the case manager are distinct from those of the victims’ counsel. “Ms. Arcaina’s role as case manager for the external CLRV team falls under the category of ‘persons assisting counsel’ and ‘team member’ as outlined in the Court’s Legal Aid Policy,” they said.
The chamber has decided to proceed with the confirmation hearings even as the issue of jurisdiction remains on appeal and despite Kaufman’s claim that Duterte is unfit for trial.
(Disclosure: Butuyan is a trustee of VERA Files and CenterLaw has been helping us with our legal commitments.)
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
