Duterte at ICC: Critical logistical issues tackled in 5th status conference

MANILA (UPDATED) — Critical logistical issues, including timezone differences, sitting schedule and languages that can be used for the opening statements in the upcoming trial of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, were discussed during the fifth status conference for his case, the last before the trial starts by the end of the month.

Monday’s pre-trial conference for Duterte’s crimes against humanity case at the International Criminal Court focused on several issues, including the massive amount of documentary evidence, which has been the main issue since the first pre-trial conference.

Both the prosecution and the defense agreed to streamline massive documentary evidence and finalize stipulated facts to avoid courtroom inefficiencies and drags.

Strict witness protection under Rule 63 and rigid preparation timelines remain central as well to the priorities of the court.

The legal teams likewise addressed critical logistical challenges including timezone management for remote Philippine witnesses and securing adequate cross examination schedules.

The Prosecution said it will have 29 witnesses who will be appearing via video conference, and the Registry said the trial might have to start early so as to manage the timezone difference between the Netherlands and the Philippines.

During the status conference, Presiding Judge Joanna Korner addressed the request of the Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) to use Tagalog in its opening statement during the trial, saying this will help the victims relate more to what is being said.

Korner, however, reiterated that the working languages of the court are English and French, and there should be an exceptional reason to allow the use of other languages.

“The Statute, Rome Statute, is quite clear. The working languages of the court are English and French. Up until now, everyone’s accepted that. But suddenly, I say, there seems to be this fashion for asking for the use of one of the non-court languages,” Korner said.

“And for various reasons, there has to be a really exceptional reason why languages which is not one of the court languages should be used and there are going to be interpreters,” she also said.

Korner emphasized that whatever would be said in court will be interpreted in Tagalog, and a transcript will be available in the court’s website, so there is no need for it to be used in court.

“The question of Tagalog, it seems to me, is not the language of all of the victims in any event, because I gather some speak different languages…There will be interpretation, and we’ll make sure, if we can…ask for a translation into Tagalog, or a transcript in Tagalog to reproduce which is available on the court’s website,” she said.

“One of the problems is the moment we start to do this and applications come in and becomes much more complicated, and much more expensive,” Korner said.

“I’m afraid for a number of reasons, we are going to follow what the Rome Statute has mandated and it must all be in English,” she also said.

The Prosecution, meanwhile, vowed to cut in half its opening statement to speed up proceedings, but maintained that the panel needs to spend 6 hours in presenting its first witness.

The ICC Trial Chamber 3 earlier gave the prosecution 6 hours to lay down its opening premise, while the victims’ representative gets 3 hours for its separate opening statement.

“We are gonna try to cut that in half. We will hope for 3 hours or under. We hope to be more concise,” ICC senior trial lawyer Julian Nicholls of the prosecution team said during the 5th and last status conference hearing for Duterte’s trial.

“Three hours but we are also cutting the time. We are actually working on this as we speak,” added Paulina Massida of the ICC’s Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV).

While the defense may decide to deliver its opening statements before it presents its own evidence and witnesses, the court urged Duterte’s counsels to at least provide a summary to help the public have a better grasp of their arguments at the start of the trial.

“The public can hear straight away what the issues are in this case. I want you to consider applying not to open in full but to give the public and the court an outline of what your defense will be along the lines of what will happen,” Korner said.

“We will finalize that position in the next few days, but it is most likely that I will not say something at the start given the stature of the accused,” lead defense counsel Peter Haynes said in response.

Parties to the case have agreed to a 6-hour daily schedule from November 30 and until the International tribunal goes on a Christmas break in mid-December.

Each trial day is divided into 4 sessions spanning an hour each, and divided by an hour-long lunch break, and 2 shorter recesses in the morning and in the afternoon.

Trial days open at 10 a.m. in the Netherlands or 5 p.m. in the Philippines, will conclude by 4 p.m. in Europe or 11 p.m. here, to give ample time for Duterte to be brought back to the detention facility near the ICC.

Adjustments to the schedule are expected to take place should the parties present witnesses via video conferencing or what the ICC calls as an audio video link or AVL.

“We have to start earlier. We are 7 hours in front or behind. We have to finish by 8pm there [in the Philippines],” said Marc Dubuisson, Director of the ICC Division of Judicial Services.

“If the hearing ends at 1300 here, it does not fit into the schedule. If we do sessions 3 instead of 4, we end not beyond 2000 at the location (Philippines,” he said.

Monday’s hearing was the last status hearing for the parties and the court before the trial starts on November 30.

Duterte earlier waived his right to appear at the hearing, after previously attending the third and fourth status conferences.

Duterte, 81, had appeared by video link when he was first brought to the court in The Hague and skipped hearings, before appearing at the third status conference of his case in September.

He is the first Asian former head of state to face trial at the ICC, which prosecutes individuals for the world’s worst crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018 during his offensive against drug users and sellers.

The ICC has set November 30 as the start date of the trial, which could take months or even years.