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The International Criminal Court, in its May 21 decision, does not allow Duterte to appeal against the confirmation of his charges.
MANILA, Philippines – The International Criminal Court (ICC) First Trial Chamberin a ruling on Thursday, May 21, it rejected former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s request to appeal the court’s decision confirming his ICC cases last month.
In doing so, the pre-trial chamber rejected the latest attempt by the former president to delay his trial.
In April, the pre-trial chamber he proved all three wrongs of Duterte’s crime against humanity case, thus taking him to the trial stage which may begin as early as this November.
Duterte cannot go directly to the ICC’s appeals chamber to challenge a pre-trial court decision, unlike other decisions. This is why he had to file an application for leave or request leave to appeal.
In their March 29 petition, Duterte’s lawyers asked two questions on the confirmation of the impeachment decision:
- First issue: whether the pre-trial chamber erred in taking a “flexible approach and broadly defining the scope of compensation”;
- Second issue: whether the court erred in law “by failing to state the evidentiary basis to support the charges.”
In the first issue, the Duterte camp said the decision could be appealed because of the court’s action, the defense lawyers could not determine “if and which incidents” fall within the scope of the ICC proceedings against Duterte.
However, the ICC pre-trial chamber said this “does not constitute a matter of appeal.”
Meanwhile, in the second issue, the Duterte camp said the court allegedly erred because it failed to explain the “evidential basis” in confirming the charges, among others. They added that the chamber “did not make clear the facts nor (provided) specific references to the evidence supporting its conclusions.”
However, the court explained that it only referred to “those elements of evidence that (it) considered necessary to demonstrate the argument that supports its conclusions.”
“For these reasons, the court rejects the request,” said the pre-trial chamber in its decision on Thursday.
Duterte has been detained in The Hague, Netherlands, since his time arrested in March 2025. He faces three counts of crimes against humanity for alleged killings under his Davao Death Squad and his war on drugs.
Aside from the confirmation of the charges, Duterte also failed after the ICC Court of Appeal denied his challenge to authority in April. The challenge to jurisdiction, Duterte’s main legal shot, called into question the court’s ability and jurisdiction to handle its cases.
Recently, Duterte also changed his legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs. He chose the former president of the ICC Bar Association, Peter Haynes as his new lawyer, with Australian lawyer Kate Gibson as his new lawyer. – Rappler.com
