Questions have been raised around the way former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was picked up by police at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, bundled up, and shoved into a private jet bound for Rotterdam in the Netherlands where he now waits to face the “International Criminal Court” (ICC) in The Hague.
Article 59 of the Rome Statute spells out in Item 4 that “the custodial State shall consider whether, given the gravity of the alleged crimes, there are urgent and exceptional circumstances to justify interim release and whether necessary safeguards exist to ensure that the custodial State can fulfil its duty to surrender the person to the Court.”
Arrest proceedings in the custodial State
1. A State Party which has received a request for provisional arrest or for arrest and surrender shall immediately take steps to arrest the person in question in accordance with its laws and the provisions of Part 9.
2. A person arrested shall be brought promptly before the competent judicial authority in the custodial State which shall determine, in accordance with the law of that State, that:
(a) The warrant applies to that person;
(b) The person has been arrested in accordance with the proper process; and
(c) The person’s rights have been respected.
3. The person arrested shall have the right to apply to the competent authority in the custodial State for interim release pending surrender.
4. In reaching a decision on any such application, the competent authority in the custodial State shall consider whether, given the gravity of the alleged crimes, there are urgent and exceptional circumstances to justify interim release and whether necessary safeguards exist to ensure that the custodial State can fulfil its duty to surrender the person to the Court. It shall not be open to the competent authority of the custodial State to consider whether the warrant of arrest was properly issued in accordance with article 58, paragraph 1 (a) and (b).
5. The Pre-Trial Chamber shall be notified of any request for interim release and shall make recommendations to the competent authority in the custodial State. The competent authority in the custodial State shall give full consideration to such recommendations, including any recommendations on measures to prevent the escape of the person, before rendering its decision.
6. If the person is granted interim release, the Pre-Trial Chamber may request periodic reports on the status of the interim release.
7. Once ordered to be surrendered by the custodial State, the person shall be delivered to the Court as soon as possible.
The “custodial state” in this instance may have been the Philippines although, to be fair, the Philippines withdrew itself from the jurisdiction of the ICC back in 2019 under Duterte’s watch.
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Some have speculated that the above procedure may, instead, be performed in the Netherlands which remains a signatory to the Rome Statute and, presumably, is a valid “custodial state” in the context of Article 59 as such. According to a recent news report, “Duterte was taken to a detention center on the Dutch coast ahead of an initial court appearance in The Hague.”
No mention of whether Item 4 of the arrest procedure will be conducted as of this writing.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
bakit kasi nung nag withdraw sa ICC hindi din nag withdraw sa interpol , alam naman Nila that only police execute and enforced the warrant, why do they didn’t take care of the police and the withdrawal of the ICC is half baked they didn’t think deep enough
Had this international Criminal Cabal (ICC) picked up Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu in this manner, the Hague would already be starting to resemble Gaza.
Philippines has accepted this violation of its sovereignty because it suits the political interests of Marcos Jr.
The message from this administration is clear: “Philippines is open for business to Drug Lords.”
that is correct, it is open season for drug fiends and all manner of thievery of the national treasury, and foolish policemen knocking on the doors of the masonic lodges, hoping for a cut of the civilian rackets.
junior, his fancy ass “london bridge” education shown to be useless, has allowed himself to be trapped by the evil machinations of the liberals.
and has cast his lot with the traitors of the north, the modern day macabebes.
vengeance will come at the tip of 30 million ballpoint pens in may.