MANILA — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced the constitution of Trial Chamber III to hear the case of former president Rodrigo Duterte on three counts of crimes against humanity.
In a decision dated April 24, the ICC Presidency assigned judges Joanna Korner, Keebong Paek, and Nicolas Guillou to form part of Trial Chamber III.
The judges are selected in consideration of the overall judicial workload of the Court, the workload and individual concerns of respective judges, their previous involvement in cases, experience and expertise.
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I concluded that there are substantial grounds to believe that Duterte is responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder, committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, while the country was a member of the Rome Statute.
“Duterte meant to engage in the charged conduct, and intended, or was aware that violent crimes including murder would be committed in the ordinary course of events as a result of the implementation of the Common Plan,” the decision read.
Read: It’s final: Rodrigo Duterte to face ICC trial for crimes against humanity
The judges
Judge Joanna Korner
British judge Korner has practiced criminal law for 45 years. She has served as a judge of the Crown Court of England since 2012, before she assumed full duty on September 1, 2021.
Judge Joanna Korner. Photo courtesy of ICC-CPI.
She was the presiding judge of the ICC case of Abd-Al-Rahman, who was guilty of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, Sudan, between August 2003 and April 2004.
She is also one of the judges of the ICC case of Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, declaring them guilty of a number of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Bangui and the west of the Central African Republic between September 2023 and at least February 2014.
Judge Keebong Paek
South Korean judge Paek served as a public prosecutor for the Republic of Korea for 22 years. He was instrumental in drafting the implementation bill for Korea’s ratification of the Rome Statute.
Judge Keebong Paek. Photo courtesy of ICC – CPI.
He also worked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to support member-states in implementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
He was part of Trial Chamber X that ordered the reparations for the victims in the ICC case of Al Hassan Ag Abdou Aziz, a member of the Islamic Police in Mali, guilty of three counts of crimes against humanity and five counts of war crimes.
He also took part as a judge in deciding the case of Yekatom and Ngaissona with Korner.
Judge Nicolas Guillou
French judge Guillou held several high positions in the French Ministry of Justice.
He also worked as the chef de cabinet (head of office) to the president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon from 2015 to 2019, and as liaison prosecutor at the US Department of Justice from 2012 to 2015.
Judge Nicolas Guillou. Photo courtesy of ICC-CPI.
He is the presiding judge of Pre-Trial Chamber I in the ICC case of Palestine, issuing arrest warrants for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as well as the war crime of starvation committed in Gaza.
It also ruled that both individuals bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
He is the judge with the most number of cases in various ICC Trial Chambers.
Moving forward
The Trial Chamber with the current set of judges will hold status conferences with the prosecutor, victims’ representatives, and Duterte’s counsel to set the date of the commencement of the trial and adopt the procedures necessary to facilitate the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings.
ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti said that this process may take weeks or months since the physical and virtual documents will also be transferred.
“The work of lawyers and the victims’ families is to register more participating victims,” Conti said. “But this will be challenging because first, we do not have access to all their contacts, and second, this entails a heavy toll for them. The influence of Duterte remains. Their relentless intimidation to the victims online and offline is a consideration for the victims to surface.”
Read: As ICC confirms charges vs Duterte, women kin amplify call for justice
Duterte will be on trial for three counts of murder and attempted murder.
The first count refers to the killings during his time as mayor of Davao City. The second count refers to the “high-value targets” across the Philippines during his term as president. The third count refers to those killed in barangay clearance operations across the country.
Out of the more than 30,000 victims documented by human rights groups, only five cases resulted in court convictions, according to Amnesty International 2026 state of human rights report.
“We know that the lives of our loved ones can never be brought back but let this serve as a reminder to the Philippines and international community that no leader, no matter how powerful, has the right to commit such crimes and repeatedly violate our rights,” Jane Lee, wife of drug war victim Michael Lee, said in Filipino. (AMU, JDS)
The post ICC constitutes Trial Chamber on Duterte crimes against humanity appeared first on Bulatlat.
From Bulatlat via This RSS Feed.