FORMER International Criminal Court (ICC) judge Raul Pangalangan on Saturday emphasized that the tribunal operates under a unique legal framework that does not always conform to traditional national legal systems.

"Since I returned from The Hague, I've found that the real challenge in explaining the ICC in the Philippines is that we tend to make it fit into familiar categories," said Pangalangan, who served as a judge at the ICC from 2015 to 2021. "We try to see it solely in terms of the old, familiar boxes that we know. But at the outset, we have to recognize that international criminal tribunals are in a class of their own. They are sui generis."

He illustrated this point with an example from former president Rodrigo Duterte's arrival in the Netherlands.

"He did not have a visa. Can you imagine any of you entering a foreign territory without a visa? And yet, he was allowed to enter. He was welcomed at the airport. Of course, he was no sooner brought to jail, but notice that the rest of the passengers of that airplane were initially prevented from disembarking," Pangalangan said.

He explained that while other passengers were required to have valid visas before being allowed entry, Duterte was granted immediate access under special provisions.

The Philippine Embassy, led by Ambassador Ed Malaya, had to make special arrangements to secure visas for Duterte's legal team, the arresting officers, and other members of his entourage.

"In other words, if you just followed the rules, the familiar rules that we knew, former President Duterte would have been treated exactly the way the other passengers of that airplane were treated," Pangalangan said. "The Dutch authorities would have required them to have a visa. And in this case, no. And why? Because that's basically the host country's arrangement with the ICC."

The ICC, being based in The Hague, operates under a host agreement with the Dutch government, which allows for special conditions in handling individuals involved in court proceedings, Pangalangan said.

"That's part of the deal. In fact, I myself as a judge realized that anomaly only when, at some point, in the court, we acquitted someone who had been in jail for 10 years. And then we all realized — if we release him just like that, as ordered by the court, he steps out of the gates of the Scheveningen prison, and at that instant, he becomes an illegal alien," he said.

He elaborated on the special legal measures required in such cases.

"There had to be special arrangements made to deal with that phenomenon. This is the kind of legal complexity that makes the ICC different from domestic courts. You cannot just assume that the rules of one legal system apply automatically to another."

Duterte's arrest and transfer to The Hague have sparked widespread debate in the Philippines, with legal experts weighing in on the implications of the country's previous withdrawal from the ICC and the jurisdiction of the court over Duterte's alleged crimes.

As Duterte awaits trial on charges of crimes against humanity in connection to his bloody war on drugs, the discussion over the ICC's role and its interaction with Philippine sovereignty continues to evolve, with experts like Pangalangan emphasizing the importance of viewing international law beyond traditional domestic frameworks.

"If we only use old tools to understand this new system, we will miss the fundamental distinctions that make the ICC what it is," Pangalangan said.