ICC’s Khan opposes disqualification motion in Duterte case
MANILA, Philippines — International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan asserted there are no grounds for his disqualification from the case involving detained former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a notification to the Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC I) dated August 18, Khan said that he does not believe a conflict of interest exists that would require him to be excused from the case.
“The Prosecutor files this notification in order to advise PTC I that the Prosecutor has carefully considered whether the circumstances summarized above give rise to any grounds for disqualification and that he does not consider that any grounds for disqualification currently exist,” Khan said.
Khan also said that he is not aware of any previous case where the impartiality of a prosecutor was challenged based on prior involvement in the early stages of proceedings on behalf of victims.
He argued that his previous involvement in the Philippines case was not in a capacity that would reasonably cause his impartiality to be doubted or lead him to form an opinion that could objectively affect his impartiality.
Khan also argued that a request to disqualify a prosecutor can only be made when a "case" exists before the court.
He stated that the situation in the case remains in the investigation phase, and there is currently no "case" from which he could be disqualified.
“Even if the PTC determines that a warrant should be issued, there will still have to be an application by the accused person for the Prosecutor’s disqualification pursuant to Article 42(8). This situation does not arise at the time of filing the present notification,” Khan said.
In May, Khan temporarily stepped aside from his position due to an ongoing United Nations investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
The camp of the detained former president sought to disqualify Khan from the case due to his alleged failure to disclose a conflict of interest.
- Latest
- Trending
