[PODCAST] Law of Duterte Land: Duterte’s ICC prospects

President Rodrigo Duterte will never cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), says his spokesperson Harry Roque whom the government just nominated to the United Nation’s International Law Commission.

Non-cooperation is not just a tough-talking rhetoric, it is also a signal to the ICC’s pre-trial chamber. Cooperation is seen as crucial to the success of an investigation, and the Rome Statute requires that a probe serve the interest of justice.

“It is not in pursuit of substantial justice,” said Roque, claiming that he’s “confident” that the pre-trial chamber will reject the investigation on this basis. He also claimed that Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s evidence is hearsay as it is based on public information.

But Bensouda has a six for six success rate when it comes to securing investigations. The pre-trial chamber can decide in roughly three months.

To discuss the workings of the ICC further, we talk to Param-Preet Singh, associate director of the Human Rights Watch International Justice Program. He has extensive experience in international justice for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

For past podcast episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1: Supreme Court’s most controversial decisions
• Episode 1 Part 2: Department of Justice’s evolving definition of warrantless arrests
• Episode 2: The rule of law in the time of the coronavirus
• Episode 3: Pandemic and the great wall of free speech
• Episode 4: Will petition to disclose Duterte health work?
• Episode 5: Legal difficulties of a prisoner mass release
• Episode 6: Breaking down the ABS-CBN franchise legal and political issues
• Episode 7: ABS-CBN and the 3 tangled branches of government
• Episode 8: Are extraordinary writs still effective in the time of Duterte?
• Episode 9: Dissecting anti-terror bill and threats to freedoms
• Episode 10: The problems with the Cybercrime Law
• Episode 11: Can we trust the gov’t panel probing drug war deaths?
• Episode 12: Why press freedom is legally protected
• Episode 13: What is People’s Initiative and will it work for ABS-CBN?
• Episode 14: The new push for death penalty
• Episode 15: A State of terror
• Episode 16: GCTA’s thorn – Do bad men deserve good things?
• Episode 17: Policies beyond body count of Duterte’s drug war
• Episode 18: Can we really bring Xi Jinping to the ICC?
• Episode 19: Philippine courts and the death of baby River
• Episode 20: Deep dive into anti-terror law IRR
• Episode 21: Supreme Court and the SALN challenge
• Episode 22: Where PH stands in fight for climate justice
• Episode 23: How to legally fight red-tagging
• Episode 24: Hope for the Rule of Law with Dino de Leon
• Episode 25: Summary of anti-terror law petitions
• Episode 26: May it please the Court – the anti-terror law orals
• Episode 27: Investigating Duterte’s drug war using hard data
• Episode 28: Your Honors, they are killing lawyers
• Episode 29: Choosing who sits on the Bench
• Episode 30: Lugaw, RA 11332, and common sense policy
• Episode 31: Understanding electoral protests
• Episode 32: Captain Ri and all the president’s men
• Episode 33: The law of NTF-ELCAC
• Episode 34: Lawyering under threat

If you have tips and suggestions for episodes, email the host at lian.buan@rappler.com. – Rappler.com