Duterte’s fearful exit from ICC

Jude Josue Sabio .

LET us imagine a room that has only a door for entry and exit.  When two people enter such a room, it is a fair assumption that both of them will later exit the room. In reality, no person enters a room without intending to exit, unless he intends to imprison himself inside the room which, of course, nobody would ever want.  In entering and exiting the room, both of them have to do so through the same door.

Shared power is like both entering and exiting the room. It is the act, in a shared manner, to get in and get out.  One cannot enter without the other also entering. One cannot exit without the other also exiting. Both do the entering and exiting.

In other words, just like in this imaginary room, a shared power involves both the acts of entering and exiting a room. Power is not shared, when either the getting in or getting out is done only by one as in the case of the imaginary room.

If a law is likened to a room, the act of passing it is akin to entering such room. Congress enters the room by passing the law. The President also enters by signing the law. In turn, the act of repealing a law is akin also to getting out of the room. Congress exits the room by passing a law to repeal a previous one. In the same vein, the President exits the room by approving it.

That is precisely the nature of a shared power. Getting in and getting out are acts done as in a room by two power holders.

If a treaty is likened also to a room, the same is true. Although a treaty is not a law per se, it has the force and effect of law. The President enters the room by signing the treaty. The Senate also enters such room by ratification. They both share in the act of entering a room that is a treaty.

In simplistic terms, let us imagine the President and the Senate both entering a room thru a door. Unless either of them wants to be in a self-imposed imprisonment in the room, both of them will have to exit the room at some time.

And when they get out, the act of getting out cannot be done by just one of them, because to do so would leave the other imprisoned inside the room resulting in absurdity. It is plain to see that getting out must be done by both of them in order to avoid such absurdity.

The International Criminal Court can be likened to a room that the President and the Senate both entered when they approved the Rome Statute. For them to get out of the ICC, not just the President gets out; the Senate also has to get out.  Just like the act of getting in, both of them must get out of the door which is the deatification of the Rome Statute.

The Senate’s express power of ratifying a Treaty, which is akin to entering a room, necessarily carries with it the corollary power of deatifying it which is akin to exiting a room.

Come to think of it, if there is someone who has to remain in that room, it should be Duterte himself. Is he afraid of justice inside that room?

(Lawyer Jude Josue Sabio is the lawyer who brought a complaint against President Duterte before the International Criminal Court. He is from Misamis Oriental.)