The International Criminal Court (ICC) had junked the bid of former President Rodrigo Duterte to appeal the tribunal’s decision confirming crimes against humanity of murder charges linked to his drug war.
In a 12-page ruling, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I denied the request for leave to appeal, with all judges unanimously voting against the petition filed by Duterte’s defense team.
The decision was signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc together with Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera.
Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman had argued that the chamber made errors in confirming the charges, saying the tribunal used what he called an overly broad framing of allegations that weakened his client’s right to be properly informed.
The defense also questioned how the court handled evidence, claiming it failed to fully address key arguments and did not sufficiently explain how its findings were supported, including issues surrounding an alleged common plan.
Prosecutors countered that the chamber simply defined the scope of the case based on ICC rules, clearly laying out the timeline, locations, alleged perpetrators, and categories of victims involved.
The chamber sided with prosecutors, saying the defense had misunderstood the ruling and wrongly combined separate legal issues. It stressed that confirmation proceedings are not full trials and do not require exhaustive review of every piece of evidence.
The ICC maintained that Duterte remained responsible to face trial over killings linked to anti-drug operations in Davao City and nationwide, ruling that there was no basis to grant the appeal and keeping the case moving forward.