One school of thought says that international treaty once ratified by the Philippine Senate does not require publication in the Philippine Gazette as required by Philippine law to be effective. But President Duterte said that the Rome Statute of the ICC is a criminal statute that needs to be published locally to become binding and effective for the Philippines. One important characteristic of criminal law is territoriality. Subjects must be informed through publication of the new penal statute to be officially effective. The membership of the Philippines is therefore invalid or null from the beginning since it was not published locally as required by Philippine law. Therefore, Duterte could be not be under the jurisdiction of the ICC for its investigation against the alleged "crime against humanity in his war on illegal drugs. What do you think?
Hi. I'm happy to ask you questions. In my opinion, the right to make reservations in conventions and treaties is reasonable. The Philippines must also exercise this right. The International Criminal Tribunal must also be cautious in becoming a new member, under the domination of imperialism and great powers, and if it is a right to membership.
Thanks Seyed for sharing your insight. Yeah, the ICC must probably respect the sovereignty and legal requirements of developing countries wanting to be members of the ICC. The Philippines is a collectivist culture and not individualist like Western countries. Culture matters in the conception of human rights. Human rights of individuals are usually subordinated to the rights of the community. In Asian cultures, the approval of the community is more important than individual rights. The common good is more important than individual rights. There is a strong support on the war on drugs among filipinos to protect their communities against the menace of illegal drugs, although there are some cases of human rights abuse which cannot be ascertained whether committed by the state, corrupt police, vigilantes, drug lords, or opportunists who take advantage of the administration's war on drugs. Cheers!
Dear Vivencio,
Duterte's point would only be relevant to the extent whether the Rome Statute would be applicable directly in the Philippines. Of course that does not matter because if the Philippines wanted to prosecute its citizens for the crimes the ICC prosecutor seeks to investigate, it could do so by applying its ordinary criminal law and this would be sufficient in the context of complementarity to deny ICC jurisdiction. However, back to Duterte's point, domestic law cannot be used as an excuse to get out of international obligations pursuant to a treaty. (see Art. 27 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties). In effect, the Rome Statute is binding upon the Philippines despite not enacting domesticating legislation and the ICC can exercise jurisdiction. Duterte's argument therefore fails.
Dear Vivencio.
There is still one year in ICC after the decision of Duterte to go out from ICC. After this one year will be passed, Duterte would be free from ICC.
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