Ahead of the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte in July, a closed-door pre-trial conference will be held on June 18 at the Senate.
The pre-trial conference is expected to place Duterte’s lawyers and the House prosecutors in one room and discuss which evidence they both agree on to be authentic, and what ground rules they are both comfortable with, among other things.
What is a pre-trial?
It is often said that impeachment is a sui generis constitutional process, which means it is neither criminal, civil, or administrative. It is unique or a class on its own. The mechanism, both political and legal, seeks to hold impeachable officials accountable.
Neither the 1987 Constitution nor the Senate rules handbook has explicit provisions on pre-trial proceedings.
