MANILA, Philippines – On Tuesday, former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague in The Netherlands to face charges for crimes against humanity, by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Police served the warrant of arrest to Duterte and was signed by the three judges who constitute the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I, namely Judge Iulia Motoc; Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou, and Judge Maria del Socorro Flores Liera.
The Pre-Trial judges will decide if there is enough evidence for a case to go to trial, and if so, confirm the charges and commit the case to trial, according to the ICC website.
Duterte is expected to make his first appearance at the ICC on Friday before the three female judges, to verify the identity of the suspect and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings.
According to the procedures, Duterte will also be informed of the charges against him and his rights under the ICC Rome Statute.
Get to know the female judges:
Judge Iulia Motoc (Term: 11 March 2024 - 10 March 2033)
Judge Motoc is the presiding presiding judge of the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC. Her nationality is Romanian. Prior to joining the ICC, Judge Iulia Motoc was a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR, 2013-2023) and Professor of International Law. Judge Motoc served as a UN Special Rapporteur for the Democratic of Congo reporting crimes against humanity and war crimes. Judge Motoc is a member of the Institut de Droit International.
As a judge at the Constitutional Court of Romania (2010-2013) and Judge at the ECHR, Judge Motoc dealt with serious and complex cases including corruption and sexual violence, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in cases such as Drelingas v Lithuania and interstate cases such as Ukraine and the Netherlands v Russia or Chiragov and Others v Armenia and Sargsyan v Azerbaijan.
Judge Motoc has extensive experience with the United Nations and various legal systems. She was a member and Vice President of the UN Human Rights Committee examining the right to life, enforced disappearances and other massive violations of human rights that are also within the competence of the International Criminal Court. She was a member and President of the UN Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. She co-drafted the UN Report on free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people and the UN Guidelines on Extreme Poverty. She was UN Special Rapporteur on Genetics and Human Rights. At the European level, Judge Motoc was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and a Member of the Management Board.
Judge Motoc began teaching at the University of Bucharest in 1995 and became full Professor in 2002. Her research interests encompass use of force, theory of international law, human rights and transitional justice. She has been a visiting professor at various institutions including the European Institute Florence, University Paris I, and Academy of International Law, The Hague, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization, Venice. She is the author of more than 80 publications.
Judge Motoc holds an LLB from the University of Bucharest (1989) a Master’s degree (1991) and a PhD in International Law from the University Paul Cezanne, Aix-Marseille III (1996). She obtained the habilitation in law from Paris XI, Jean Monnet (1998). Judge Motoc has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bucharest (1999) and was a Senior Fellow at the NYU School of Law (2003-2004) and Yale School of Law (2004-2007).
Judge Socorro Flores Liera ( Judge as of 11 March 2021, for a term of nine years)
Judge Liera hails from Mexico. Prior to joining the ICC, Judge Socorro Flores Liera has had a distinguished career in Mexico's Foreign Service, holding a number of senior posts, most recently (2017-2021) as the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Office of the United Nations and other International Organizations based in Geneva. Among other functions, she served as Vice-President of the Human Rights Council for the year 2020.
As a member of the Mexican delegation, Judge Flores Liera was closely involved in the process leading to the creation of the International Criminal Court since 1995, notably including the negotiations that led to the Rome Statute and to the adoption of the Elements of Crimes and Rules of Procedure and Evidence. She subsequently served as the first Head of the Court's Liaison Office at the United Nations in New York, coordinating contacts between the two organizations.
Judge Flores Liera served as advocate-counsellor of Mexico in proceedings brought before the International Court of Justice in the "Avena" case (Mexico v. United States). She has participated in the negotiation of several international instruments in the field of public international law, and she served as Chairperson of the Drafting Committee at the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Judge Flores Liera studied law at the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, specializing in public international law. She has published several works in the area of international criminal law, international cooperation and climate change, among others. She is a member of the Mexican Branch of the International Law Association.
Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou (Judge as of 11 March 2018, for a term of nine years)
Judge Alapini-Gansou is from Benin. Prior to joining the ICC in 2018, Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou spent 12 years at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), as Chair of the Commission (2009-2012), and as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Africa (2005- 2009 and 2012 -2017).
She has been a member of several United Nations commissions of inquiries on human rights violations, and chaired the joint working group on special procedures of the United Nations and the African Commission on human and people's rights. In 2011, she was appointed as judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Author or co-author of several publications, she has been a professor at the University of Abomey - Calavi, in Benin. She holds a joint post-graduate degree (DEA) from the Universities of Maastricht (Netherlands), Lomé (Togo) and Bhutan as well as a university degree in Common Law from the University of Lyon 3 (France). She also obtained a Master's Degree in Business Law and Judicial Careers from the National University of Benin.
She has also obtained several diplomas in the area of international human rights law (1993-2002) at the African Institute of Human Rights in Banjul, René Cassin Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France; and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome.
Judge Alapini-Gansou was admitted to the Benin Bar in 1986. She worked for the Association Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) Belgium on the project "Justice for all in Rwanda" in 2001. She is also member of the International Criminal Bar.
(source: International Criminal Court official website)
