ICC recognizes another Duterte defense lawyer
Metro Manila, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has officially recognized a new member of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team, an expert in international and criminal law, as associate counsel in the ongoing case involving crimes against humanity for murder.
According to the ICC registry, Dov Jacobs was appointed as associate counsel upon the request of Duterte’s lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, on April 2. The document confirming Jacobs’ appointment was made public on April 7.
Jacobs signed the solemn Undertakings on April 7, in compliance with the ICC Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel.
With over 15 years of experience, Jacobs previously served as defense counsel at the ICC for former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and Mahamat Said, a former general of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic—both accused of crimes against humanity.
He is currently an Assistant Professor of Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands and regularly lectures at other institutions, including Sciences Po and Université de Lille. Jacobs has published extensively on topics related to international and criminal law.
Prior to his official appointment, Jacobs shared his preliminary views on Duterte’s case on his LinkedIn profile.
“It appears that Rodrigo Duterte has not been presented before a domestic Judge prior to his surrender to the ICC, which raises questions as to the respect of his rights under Article 59 of the Rome Statute. The ICC has historically been reluctant to provide adequate monitoring of domestic conduct and remedies for violations of Article 59, as I experienced first hand in the Gbagbo case, setting a high standard for acknowledging any abuse of process in the treatment and surrender of a person to the Court at the domestic level,” Jacobs wrote.
He also weighed in on the issue of jurisdiction.
“The question of the ICC's exercise of jurisdiction in the Philippines situation will necessarily be discussed extensively in the preliminary phase. Indeed, while the Pre-Trial Chambre held that the Prosecutor could open an investigation after the Philippines' withdrawal from the Rome Statute became effective, I continue to believe that this decision is legally erroneous and results from a confusion between 'jurisdiction' and 'exercise of jurisdiction', which is in plain contradiction with the provisions of the Rome Statute and its logic,” he added.
