ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I has unanimously rejected former President Rodrigo Duterte’s last procedural bid to block his crimes against humanity trial, closing every available escape hatch before a full hearing expected to begin November 30, 2026.
In a 12-page decision dated May 21, the three-judge panel — Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera — denied the defense’s request for leave to appeal the April 23 confirmation of charges. The court found that neither of the two issues raised by the defense qualified as an appealable matter under Article 82(1)(d) of the Rome Statute.
The road to The Hague is now clear.
The defense had argued that the Pre-Trial Chamber adopted an “impermissibly flexible approach” in defining the scope of the charges, and that it failed to provide a reasoned evidentiary basis for confirming them. The court rejected both arguments, ruling that the defense’s submissions “mischaracterize the Confirmation Decision and amount to a mere disagreement with the manner in which the Chamber articulated its assessment of the evidence.”
With the appeal bid gone, a separate Trial Chamber III — already constituted and conducting preliminary procedures — has its first status conference scheduled for May 27 in The Hague, where prosecutors are expected to press for the November 30 start date they formally proposed earlier this month.
