section_path: Jurisdiction
section_name: Jurisdiction
paragraph_text: Jurisdiction
  
  The Philippines signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on December 28, 2000, and ratified it on August 30, 2011. The treaty came into force in the country on November 1, 2011. On March 14, 2018, a month after the ICC opened a preliminary investigation into the situation in the Philippines, President Duterte said in a statement that "the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome statute effective immediately". Duterte rebuked the idea of permitting foreigners to interfere in the country's justice system and his administration emphasized that cases against him should be filed before the national courts; additionally, he argued that the Rome Statute, which was ratified by the Senate in 2011, was never binding in the Philippines as it was never published in the Official Gazette, a requirement for a law in the country to take effect. However, in accordance with article 127 (1) of the treaty, the withdrawal shall only take effect "one year after the date of receipt of the notification". Two days later, on March 16, the Philippines formally notified the secretary-general of the United Nations of its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute. The country officially left the ICC one year later, on March 17, 2019.
  
  The jurisdiction of the ICC investigation in the Philippines will be limited to the period when the country was a state party to the Rome Statute, between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, encompassing almost three years of Duterte's presidency, during which the Philippine drug war was at its height. The Philippine Supreme Court, in a 2021 ruling, commented on the withdrawal from the Rome Statute and stated that the Philippines still has an obligation to cooperate in the ICC proceedings.
  
  The administration of president Bongbong Marcos, which succeeded Duterte in June 2022, maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction in the Philippines. He argued that the Philippines has a "working justice system" and hence does not warrant a probe by the ICC. This is despite the ICC meant to be complementary to domestic court systems and only prosecute cases only if "when States do not or are unwilling or unable to do" Regardless, the government has allowed the ICC to conduct its investigation in the Philippines independently. Marcos stated the PNP acted on behalf on Interpol, which the Philippines is a member of, leading to Rodrigo Duterte's arrest in March 2025.
  
  In October 2024, former Senator Leila de Lima said that there is no legal obstacle to prevent the Philippine government's cooperation with the ICC citing Republic Act 9851 or the "Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity" including the surrender or extradition of accused persons "to the appropriate international court". The 2009 law came into effect two years before the Philippines ratified the Rome Statute.