DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 14 May 2026) — When the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte conducts its first status conference on May 27, Duterte will be represented by his new lawyer, Peter Haynes.
Haynes replaced Nicholas Kaufmann who was engaged to represent Duterte after the former President was arrested on March 11, 2025 in Manila and flown to The Hague, the Netherlands to face charges of alleged crimes against humanity. Kaufmann’s engagement terminated on March 31.
In his May 8, 2026 letter to the Trial Chamber requesting withdrawal as counsel, Kaufman said Haynes has confirmed that he is willing and able to assume immediate representation of Duterte, and that he would attend the case’s next status conference on May 27.
“I am convinced that the continuity and efficacy of Mr Duterte’s representation
will remain assured through Mr Haynes, who has a wealth of experience at the
International Criminal Court, and the existing defence team,” Kaufmann said.
According to the website of St. Phillips Barristers, Haynes is one of the foremost practitioners in International Criminal and Humanitarian Law, spending the last 25 years appearing before various tribunals in The Hague.
He has appeared in cases involving charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and international terrorism.
He represented General Vincko Pandurevic, a former Bosnian Serb Army officer, before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in relation to the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995.
Pandurević was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Tribunal.
At the ICC, Haynes appeared for Jean-Pierre Bemba, former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who was initially convicted and subsequently acquitted of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed while he led the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC).
On March 21, 2016, the ICC’s Trial Chamber III found Bemba guilty of five counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, ruling he knew his troops were committing atrocities but failed to stop them.
He was sentenced to 18 years in prison but on June 8, 2018, by a 3-2 majority ruling, the ICC Appeals Chamber acquitted Bemba of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Haynes secured Bemba’s acquittal of all charges on appeal.
In 2024, he was appointed by the court to represent the interests of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in the first in absentia hearings at the ICC.
Between 2019 and 2021, he held the office of President of the International Criminal Court Bar Association and was the first to be re-elected.
The Trial Chamber has Joanna Korner of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as Presiding Judge. The two other judges are Keebong Paek of Korea and Nicolas Guillou of France. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
