ICC junks Duterte camp's plea for additional medical report on Duterte's health condition

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has junked another petition by the camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte. This time, a request seeking to allow the same panel of court-appointed medical experts, who determined that the 80-year-old Duterte can still undergo trial, to assess whether he still poses a risk of flight and obstructing judicial proceedings despite his allegedly debilitating cognitive impairment and unexplained weight loss. 

The judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber I ruled unanimously that there is “no reason” to require the experts to submit any additional reports, asserting that their mandate is solely limited to providing an independent assessment of Duterte’s medical condition to assist the ICC in evaluating whether he is still fit to participate in the pre-trial proceedings. 

“The panel has fulfilled its mandate with the submission of the panel’s reports, which are available to the defence and, should it wish to do so, can be referred to in its observations regarding the review of Mr. Duterte’s detention,” the decision dated 7 January reads.

“In these circumstances, the chamber sees no reason to order the panel to prepare any additional report that exceeds its mandate,” it added.

The petition’s rejection follows the denial of a separate request by the defense to compel the disclosure of all communications, such as emails and notes from phone calls, between the court’s Registry and the experts, as they raised strong objections to the joint conclusion of the panel. 

The twin petitions both pertain to the experts’ findings. While the medical report itself has not been made public, both prosecution and defense filings confirmed that the panel found Duterte capable of meaningfully participating in the proceedings.

This prompted Duterte’s lead legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, to request the ICC to direct the same medical panel to assess whether Duterte’s current cognitive state would permit him to “actualize” the risk factors under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute.

The provision outlines the grounds for the continued detention of an accused, such as being a flight risk, likely to interfere with the investigation and intimidate witnesses, or reoffending with further crimes.

Kaufman has consistently argued that these risk factors no longer apply to Duterte and that his “frail” condition warrants his interim release from ICC detention pending the hearing for the confirmation of his murder charges. 

The pre-trial hearing was initially scheduled for 23 September but postponed indefinitely after the PTC-I ruled in favor of the defense, asking the court to stop the proceedings, citing the former president’s alleged unfitness to stand trial. 

However, the PTC-I maintained that whether the risk factors under Article 58(1)(b) of the Statute exist, it’s not for the panel of experts to decide, but the court.

“Considering that the observations of the parties and participants regarding the periodical review of the detention of Mr. Duterte will be submitted by 9 January 2026, the chamber finds that any additional expert report is neither appropriate nor necessary for its adjudication,” the decision concluded.

Both ICC prosecutors and the legal counsel of the victims of Duterte’s bloody drug war objected to the defense’s request, dismissing it as a veiled attempt to delay the already stalled trial deliberately.

Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang argued, among others, that the “deterioration” of Duterte’s health “does not justify the need for” an additional expert report, as the “impact of time on his physical health is consistent with the natural process of aging.”

Victims’ principal counsel, Paolina Massida, echoed the prosecution’s argument, accusing the defense of causing unnecessary delays by effectively seeking an additional report from the expert, preventing the pre-trial proceedings from moving forward.

The ICC has yet to decide whether Duterte is indeed fit to stand trial, though ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti projected that the ruling is likely to be released for February, if not this month. 

In the meantime, Duterte will remain in the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands, where he has been detained since his arrest on 11 March in Manila.