The Hague, Netherlands — There are no grounds to doubt our impartiality.
This was the direct reaction of the two judges in former president rodrigo duterte’s case that are the subject of the disqualification request of the defense.
Based on the internal memorandum submitted by Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou at Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera in response to the plenary’s order to respond, the two emphasized that they do not see any grounds that would require them to be excused nor disqualified from the case.
They said that judges of the court are professionals that decide on issues and cases based on facts and evidence.
In the defense’s case, they noted that the disqualification request is only partial, as the challenge to the judges was based on the question of jurisdiction.
The judges noted that the proposition of Duterte’ camp is incorrect and legally untenable.
“Thus, it is untenable to suggest that judges cannot adjudicate a matter which is legally within their competence just because they previously issued judicial decisions at different stages of the proceedings in the same Situation on the basis of different arguments,” the memorandum stated.
“As recently stated by the Plenary of Judges, ‘[t]he ordinary exercise of […] assigned legal functions does not give rise to any appearance of bias or a lack of impartiality, but is, rather, part of the clear design of the Rome Statute’,” it added.
They also highlighted that the question of impartiality on their case should come from an objective perspective of a well-informed observer, fully understanding of the context of the case.
Following this response, they appealed to the Plenary that the disqualification request be rejected.