What’s next for former Philippine president Duterte? ICC names judges for trial

Dubai: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has appointed three judges who will preside over the trial of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, marking a key step as the case progresses toward full proceedings.

French judge Nicolas Guillou, British judge Joanna Korner, and South Korean judge Keebong Paek will make up trial chamber III.

Experienced panel

All three judges bring significant experience in international criminal law.

Guillou has formerly served at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the US Department of Justice. He began his career as an investigative judge and held advisory roles in the French Ministry of Justice.

Currently, he presides over multiple ICC trials, including those of Germain Katanga, Thomas Dyilo, Bosco Ntaganda, Ahmad Al Mahdi, Dominic Ongwen, Abdallah Nourain, and chairs the Pre-Trial Chamber I for the situation in the state of Palestine.

On the other hand, Korner has over 45 years of experience in criminal law as both a judge and barrister. She has served on the Crown Court of England and Wales since 2012, handling complex cases such as fraud and murder, and was a senior prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for eight years.

At present, Korner presides over the trials of Alfred Yekatom and Patrice Ngaïssona, and Ali Kushayb.

For his part, Paek, has been a former public prosecutor for Korea and director at the Ministry of Justice. He specializes in international criminal law and compliance, with focus on white-collar crime, extradition, mutual legal assistance, and cross-border asset recovery.

Presently, he is presiding over trials of Abdallah Nourain, Alfred Yekatom and Patrice Ngaïssona, Mahamat Kani, and Al Hassan Ag Mahmoud.

The ICC has noted that its judges are selected for their “high moral character, impartiality, and integrity,” as well as their expertise in criminal and international law.

What happens next

Following the unanimous confirmation of all charges against Duterte, the case has now been committed into trial.

The judges have been expected to hold status conferences and engage with both the prosecution and defence teams to organise the proceedings and determine a timeline for the trial.

A start date has yet to be announced.