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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider ICC postpones Duterte's confirmation hearing; his lawyer says ex-president 'not fit to stand trial'

ICC postpones Duterte's confirmation hearing; his lawyer says ex-president 'not fit to stand trial'

Published Sep 8, 2025 08:03 pm
Former president Rodrigo Duterte (ICC Photo)
Former president Rodrigo Duterte (ICC Photo)
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC I) postponed the confirmation of charges hearing of former president Rodrigo Duterte initially set for Sept. 23 to 26.

The announcement was made via a five-page document dated Sept. 8 and signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera.

Flores Liera dissented from the majority vote.

Citing an Aug. 18 filing by Duterte’s defense team requesting for an “indefinite adjournment” of the confirmation of charges because the former president “is not fit to stand trial,” the Chamber said that majority of its judges “decides to vacate the date of 23 September 2025 and to postpone the hearing on the confirmation of charges until further notice pursuant to rule 121(7) of the Rules.”

It also added “that the time limits set in the Order on the Conduct of Proceedings in relation to rules 121(9) and 122(3) of the Rules are suspended until further notice;” and “orders the Prosecution to file public redacted versions” of documents pertinent to the confirmation of charges hearing.

While it did not give a specific timeline, the Chamber said that it will “issue a scheduling order, including a specific date for and directions regarding the conduct of the hearing on the confirmation of charges, in due course.”

It also assured that the postponement will be limited to the time strictly necessary to determine if Duterte is fit to follow and participate in the pre-trial proceedings, a crucial phase in determining if the crimes against humanity of charges against him will proceed to trial or not.

In her dissenting opinion, which was uploaded separately on the ICC’s website, Flores-Liera said that the adjournment request from the defense team “should have been rejected and the pre-trial proceedings continued, including the confirmation of charges hearing.”

She argued that the determination of whether Duterte is fit to undergo trial or not is “exclusively” within the competence of a Trial Chamber.

“This further evidences that any determination regarding the suspect’s fitness might affect the proceedings only after the confirmation of charges hearing has been held and a decision issued pursuant to article 61(7) of the Statute, time at which the Trial Chamber will have the competency,” she added.

The public has not seen yet former president, who has been detained in The Hague, Netherlands since his first appearance last March before the PTC I to confirm his identity and set the date for the confirmation of charges hearing.

Duterte faces crimes against humanity of murder charges for allegedly architecting his administration’s brutal war on drugs campaign, which killed thousands of mostly impoverished Filipinos.

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confirmation of charges Rodrigo Duterte ICC
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