[PODCAST] Law of Duterte Land: Can we really bring Xi Jinping to the ICC?

What are the chances of the revived communication against Chinese President Xi Jinping in the International Criminal Court (ICC)?

All stakes hinge on one thing – jurisdiction.

The powerhouse duo of former ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario accuse Xi of crimes against humanity for harassment of Filipino fishermen and environmental degradation in the West Philippine Sea.

But before the scrutiny of these facts, the suit must overcome big stumbling jurisdictional blocks.

It is all kinds of complicated, from the bounds of Philippine territorial waters as recognized in international law, to the scope of the ICC’s criminal jurisdiction on non-state parties like China.

After ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda junked the communication in December 2019 for lack of jurisdiction, Morales and Del Rosario are determined to bring it back.

They also have an additional member to the team – no less than retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio, one of the leading Philippine authorities on the West Philippine Sea.

In this episode, we talk to Professor Romel Regalado Bagares, who teaches international law at the Lyceum University of the Philippines and San Sebastian College Recoletos Graduate School of Law.

Bagares is also the lead counsel for the Philippine coalition on the ICC in a pending petition before the Supreme Court against President Rodrigo Duterte’s unilateral withdrawal from the ICC.

Listen to past episodes: