The International Criminal Court (ICC) has denied a request by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team to appeal a ruling that refused to disclose communications between the court’s registry and the panel of experts evaluating his fitness to stand trial.
In a five-page document dated January 9, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected Duterte’s lawyers’ bid to challenge the court’s December 11 ruling, which had already denied the release of the communications.
The previous ruling said that there was no basis to disclose the exchanges between the ICC registry and the three-member medical panel, noting that Duterte’s camp already possesses all relevant information on how the registry interacted with the experts.
On December 17, Duterte’s lawyers filed a request seeking permission to appeal, arguing that the court failed to assess how important the requested information was to prepare the defense or whether releasing it posed any risk to the investigation or to witnesses.
In its latest decision, the ICC noted that in the request, the defense, to a large extent, “only repeats or develops arguments in an attempt to relitigate issues that have been addressed in the decision on disclosure of communications.”
This includes “whether granting the defence’s access to the information sought in the request for disclosure of communications is warranted.”
The Pre-Trial Chamber I added that the defense “further misrepresents” the denial of the request to disclose communications.
“The chamber recalls that its conclusion that ‘the defence has before it all the necessary information regarding the registry’s interactions with the experts’ was not only based on the fact that, in their reports, ‘the experts consistently refer to the chamber’s instructions’, but also to the ‘relevant materials that have guided them in the preparation of their reports,’” it said.
“In light of the above, the chamber considers that the request misconstrues the decision on disclosure of communications and that the proposed issue does not arise out of that decision. Therefore, the proposed issue does not constitute an appealable issue,” the ICC added.
Previously, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I denied Duterte’s request for the disclosure of communications between the ICC registry and the panel of experts assessing his medical fitness as the defense already has all necessary information regarding the registry’s interaction with the experts.
It pointed out that since the ICC registry is a neutral organ of the ICC whose main role in the case is to liaise and transmit the chamber’s instructions to the experts, the disclosure of all communication is not warranted “without further substantiation” from the defense.
Earlier, the ICC ordered the panel of experts to conduct a medical examination on Duterte to determine his fitness to stand trial. The 80-year-old former President is presently detained at The Hague penitentiary institution.
This was amid his camp’s claims that he is not to stand trial due to cognitive impairment and that he is unable to recall events, places, and even members of his own family.
The panel of experts submitted its findings in early December, with the ICC Office of the Prosecutor pointing out that Duterte was found to be able to fully engage and participate in the proceedings against him.
Meanwhile, the Office of Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) asked the ICC to rule on Duterte’s fitness. The OPCV also requested the court to set the date for the confirmation of charges hearing “without further delay” in light of the drug war victims’ right to a speedy trial.
Duterte is facing 49 incidents of murder and attempted murder in connection with his war on illegal drugs which left 6,200 drug suspects dead during his term as Davao City mayor and later as President.