ICC rules Duterte fit for trial

After months of speculations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday finally brought to rest the debates on whether former President Rodrigo Duterte is “fit” to stand trial by ruling in the affirmative.

The ruling paves the way for the confirmation of charges hearing, now set for 23 February after a four-month delay. The ICC has yet to determine whether the 80-year-old former president will need to appear in person for the pre-trial proceedings.

The confirmation hearing is a crucial stage in ICC proceedings, as it is when the magistrates determine whether the case will proceed to trial.

The confirmation of charges hearing is a crucial phase in ICC proceedings. This is where the judges decide whether the case against an accused has enough merit to proceed to a full trial. A case could also be dismissed at this early stage if the judges find a lack of substantial evidence from the prosecutors.

Duterte’s lawyers earlier petitioned the PTC to indefinitely postpone the confirmation of charges hearing, initially scheduled for 23 September last year, citing the former president’s alleged debilitating cognitive impairment and advanced age that may jeopardize their defense.

The petition, along with other submissions requesting Duterte’s temporary release from detention in The Hague, raised concerns among prosecutors and the lawyers of his drug war victims, who criticized the moves as a thinly veiled attempt to delay the trial.

The PTC, however, found that Duterte is still fit to stand trial despite recent submissions by his lead legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, that he is “emanciated, infirm and incapacitated,” to participate in the proceedings.

According to Kaufman, the new findings prepared by the medical experts hired by the defense would support their assertions that Duterte is physically and mentally weak to evade prosecution in case granted temporary release by the court. 

The decision of the PTC, however, corroborated the December findings of an independent medical expert appointed by the court to assess Duterte’s health condition.

Kaufman had raised strong objections to the findings, asserting that each member of the three-member panel “reached his conclusions stridently [in] conflict with those of the others.”

Kaufman claimed that Duterte’s current debilitating condition and cognitive state make him incapable of actualizing the risk factors under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute, which outline the grounds for continued detention.

“Having regard to the relevant legal principles, the medical assessment of the independent experts composing the panel, and all of the relevant circumstances of the case, the C” chamber was satisfied that Mr Duterte is able effectively to exercise his procedural rights and is therefore fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings, which are thereby resumed,” the chamber said.

The ICC said an order setting the schedule and directions for the hearing on the confirmation of charges will be issued in due course, including instructions regarding measures that the medical reports have recommended to facilitate Duterte’s participation. 

“The purpose of such a hearing is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged,” it said.

“If one or more of the charges are confirmed, the case will be transferred to a Trial Chamber, which will conduct the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial.”

Practical information, in particular on how to attend or watch the proceedings, will be provided closer to the date of the hearing, the chamber added.

Duterte has been in the ICC’s custody since his arrest in Manila on 11 March.

He is facing three counts of murder for crimes against humanity related to his brutal war on drugs, which saw more than 6,000 deaths based on the government’s data, though rights watchdogs estimate that the death toll exceeded 30,000, most of them from low-income communities.