The International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber will decide on the Philippines’ appeal against the continuation of the probe into human rights violations during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs on July 18.

In a three-page document, the Court said that it will decide on the “appeal of the Republic of the Philippines against the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I entitled ‘Authorisation pursuant to Article 18(2) of the Statute to resume the investigation’ of 26 January 2023.”

“Judgment in the above appeal will be delivered in open court on Tuesday, 18 July 2023 at 10h00,” said the ICC in a scheduling order dated July 12. It was signed by ICC Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

The investigation was halted in November 2019 after the Philippine government announced that it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that claimed thousands of lives.

Last January, the ICC’s pre-trial chamber decided to resume its investigation after discovering that the Philippine government had not been conducting its own investigations and prosecutions adequately.

In response to this decision, the Marcos administration appealed to the ICC in March, insisting that the Hague-based tribunal had no jurisdiction over the country.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he cannot cooperate with the ICC. He asserted that his administration does not require assistance from outside entities and that the investigation poses a threat to the country’s sovereignty and intrusion into internal affairs.

The president announced that the country would be “disengaging from any communication” with the court after the ICC rejected this appeal on March 27.