ICC decision on Philippines' appeal vs drug war investigation set on July 18

MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court’s appeals chamber is set to announce next week its decision on the Philippine government's appeal to stop the court's investigation into the Duterte administration's war on drugs.

In a scheduling order posted Monday, the appeals chamber said, "Judgment in the above appeal will be delivered in open court on Tuesday, 18 July 2023 at 10h00."

The ICC temporarily suspended its probe into the drug war under former President Rodrigo Duterte in November 2019 after the government said it would conduct its own inquiry into the thousands of deaths that resulted from anti-narcotics operations.

The ICC’s pre-trial chamber moved to resume its probe in January after it found that the Philippine government had not been adequately conducting its own investigations and prosecutions. 

This decision prompted the Philippines to appeal for the ICC to reverse its decision in March, insisting again that the tribunal had no jurisdiction over the country years after Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute on March 17, 2019. 

The ICC rejected this appeal last March 27, prompting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to say that the country will be "disengaging from any communication" with the ICC.

According to the provisions of the Rome Statute, the ratification of which Marcos supported when he was a senator in 2011, the court retains jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed while the Philippines was still a member. The Philippines officially ended its membership in the ICC in 2019, a year after it withdrew its ratification of the Rome Statute. 

RELATED: Fact check: Philippines has obligations despite leaving ICC in 2019  

— Cristina Chi