ICC rejects Duterte’s bid for new medical review

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has junked another petition by the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte — this one 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 flight risk and could obstruct judicial proceedings despite his supposedly debilitating cognitive impairment and unexplained weight loss.

The judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I ruled unanimously that there was “no reason” to require the experts to submit any additional reports, asserting that their mandate was 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 its reports, which are available to the defense 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 read.

“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 was rejected after the court also denied a separate defense request to compel the disclosure of all communications — such as emails and phone call notes — between the court’s Registry and the medical experts. The defense had objected strongly to the panel’s joint conclusion.

Both petitions stemmed from the experts’ findings. While the medical report itself has not been made public, filings from both the prosecution and the defense confirmed that the panel concluded Duterte is capable of meaningfully participating in the proceedings.

Following this, Duterte’s lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, asked the ICC to instruct the same medical panel to determine whether Duterte’s current cognitive condition would allow him to “actualize” the risk factors under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute.

The provision lays out the grounds for keeping an accused in detention, including the risk of flight, possible interference with the investigation, or intimidation of witnesses, and the likelihood of committing further crimes.

Kaufman has consistently argued that these risk factors no longer appied to Duterte and that his “frail” condition warranted his interim release from ICC detention pending the hearing on the confirmation of the murder charges against him.

The pre-trial hearing was originally set for 23 September last year but was postponed indefinitely after Pre-Trial Chamber I ruled in favor of the defense, ordering a halt to the proceedings over claims that the former president was unfit to stand trial.

However, the PTC-I maintained that whether the risk factors under Article 58(1)(b) of the Statute existed or not was 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 the 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.