MANILA — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has designated British judge Joanna Korner as presiding judge of Trial Chamber III, which will handle the crimes against humanity case against detained former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a report, it said that in a document dated April 29, the chamber said it elected Korner to head the three-member panel overseeing the proceedings.

“For these reasons, the chamber hereby designates Judge Joanna Korner as the Presiding Judge,” the ruling read.

Korner was appointed to the ICC on March 11, 2021, and is serving a nine-year term.

According to the court, Korner brings more than 45 years of experience as a jurist and barrister. Before joining the ICC, she served as a judge of the Crown Court of England and Wales, where she handled complex criminal cases involving fraud and murder.

She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1993 and has worked on both prosecution and defense in criminal proceedings.

Korner also served for eight years as a senior prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where she handled cases involving Mico Stanišic and Stojan Župljanin. She later became a senior legal adviser to the chief prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, helping establish the country’s war crimes section.

In a separate decision dated April 24, the ICC formally constituted Trial Chamber III to hear the case.

The panel is composed of Korner, Judge Keebong Paek of South Korea, and Judge Nicolas Guillou of France.

Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity — murder and attempted murder — allegedly committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians in the Philippines from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019. The charges cover his tenure as Davao City mayor and later as president.