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Philippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect

The Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect on 17 March 2019 after the government had notified the United Nations the previous year. The International Criminal Court stated that withdrawal did not erase jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed while the Philippines was a state party. In the causal graph this event weakens Rule of Law, a driver that weakens Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score — a worsening welfare path.

Rodrigo Duterte (Wikimedia Commons portrait; person avatar reused as fact cover, land-pack1 pattern).

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

The Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect on 17 March 2019 after the government had notified the United Nations the previous year. The International Criminal Court stated that withdrawal did not erase jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed while the Philippines was a state party. Duterte had publicly attacked the Court as it examined the anti-drug campaign. The effect is narrower than a claim that withdrawal itself prevented later proceedings: the ICC subsequently authorised an investigation and later obtained custody of Duterte. The factual significance is the state’s formal departure from a standing international accountability mechanism during an active controversy over alleged crimes.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Rodrigo Duterte

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    verified

    President whose government initiated and completed the treaty withdrawal. ICC records show the Philippines’ withdrawal took effect during Duterte’s presidency after the government’s notice of withdrawal. Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 is stored only because contributions.size is NOT NULL — not a sourced magnitude.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactPhilippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect
    2. weakensDriverRule of Law
    3. weakensIndicators (4)Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.63 · verified

    The withdrawal formally reduced future treaty participation but did not erase the Court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed during membership. Weight basis: Withdrawal from a standing international accountability treaty was a national legal act affecting external judicial oversight, while ICC jurisdiction over prior conduct remained. Weight 0.63 is the pack's qualitative severity class for this event, not an empirical coefficient.

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Rule of Law

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.47 (weight 0.63 × strength 0.74)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

    • Access to justice index

      via Rule of Law

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.43 (weight 0.63 × strength 0.68)

      Observed

      0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.

      Above normal = better

    • WJP Rule of Law Index (global)

      via Rule of Law

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.37 (weight 0.63 × strength 0.58)

      Observed

      0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      Above normal = better

    All indicators on this path (4)

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Republic of the PhilippinesInternational Criminal Court · verified
  2. 2.President of the Assembly of States Parties regrets withdrawal from the Rome Statute by the PhilippinesInternational Criminal Court · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorRodrigo Duterte
  2. contributed toFactPhilippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect
  3. weakensDriverRule of Law
  4. weakensIndicatorRule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Philippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ph-duterte-rome-statute-withdrawal-effective-2019

https://factrail.ai/facts/ph-duterte-rome-statute-withdrawal-effective-2019

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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