ICC postpones Duterte hearing over inability to stand trial

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has postponed the confirmation hearing against former president Rodrigo Duterte following a petition from his lawyers, claiming that the 80-year-old ex-leader “is not fit to stand trial.”

Two of the three judges of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I granted the defense’s request, deferring the pre-trial hearing until further notice. The only dissenting opinion came from Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera.

“Considering the chamber's duty to ensure the expeditiousness of the proceedings, the chamber should have proceeded with addressing the request by rejecting it, and continued with the pre-trial proceedings, including the holding of the confirmation of charges hearing,”Flores Liera’s dissenting opinion dated 8 September read.

The defense sought an indefinite adjournment to postpone all legal proceedings, including the hearing on the confirmation of charges, citing the former president’s condition.

Vice President Sara Duterte in July said that although “thin,” her father is not weak.

The prosecution and the legal team representing drug war victims objected to the move, but the chamber ruled that deferral is warranted until they reach a decision on whether to grant the defense’s request to postpone the case indefinitely.

Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou, who voted in favor of the defense’s request, emphasized that the:

“postponement will be limited to the time strictly necessary to determine whether Mr. Duterte is fit to follow and participate in the pre-trial proceedings,”and all other hearings.

However, Flores Liera contended that the pre-trial and trial chambers have a distinct purpose. She argued that the pre-trial proceedings have only a limited function and that:

“matters of fitness and the assessment of the same are exclusively within the competence of the trial chamber.”“In light of the above, the time limits set by the chamber in the order on the conduct of proceedings in relation to rules 121(9) and 122(3) of the Rules 11 are suspended until further notice. The chamber will, if applicable, issue a scheduling order, including a specific date for and directions regarding the conduct of the hearing on the confirmation of charges, in due course,”the decision dated 8 September read.

The ruling further states that the prosecution has already concluded its evidence disclosure, and that with the impending decision on the adjournment request:

“parties and participants shall be ready to immediately resume the proceedings on the confirmation of the charges, should Mr. Duterte be found fit to participate in these proceedings.”

The erstwhile leader has been detained at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands, since his arrest on 11 March in Manila on an ICC warrant.

His lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, has a pending request with the ICC seeking to temporarily release his client to an unnamed country pending the confirmation of charges. The tribunal has yet to rule on the matter.

To recall, Duterte’s camp sought temporary release as early as 12 June, citing advanced age, lack of flight risk, and the unlikely reoffending of the crimes he is accused of. But only two days later, Kaufman asked the ICC to defer the ruling on their request, which the ICC granted.

The former president is facing a single charge of crimes against humanity related to his brutal war on drugs, which saw more than 6,000 deaths based on the government’s data. However, rights watchdogs estimate that the death toll exceeded 30,000, most of them from low-income communities.

That figure only accounts for summary killings during Duterte’s presidency. ICC records include earlier incidents dating back to November 2011, during Duterte’s term as Davao City mayor.

The charges against the former leader, however, could still be expanded and include other offenses such as torture and rape, if the prosecution can produce an additional set of evidence to substantiate the same.