The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Trial Chamber III has allowed prosecutors to retain seven of eight additional incidents in the case against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, ruling that they fall within the scope of the confirmed charges.
In a decision, the chamber found that the seven incidents were within the geographical and temporal scope of the alleged crimes against humanity covered by the charges. It ordered the removal of Incident 57, finding that it fell outside the time frame covered by Count 2.
The ruling partially granted the defense’s motion seeking to exclude the eight incidents from the prosecution’s case.
Duterte’s defense had argued that the proposed additions went beyond the scope of the charges confirmed by the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber and involved new locations, perpetrators, victims and dates not covered by the original charges.
The defense also challenged the prosecution’s use of illustrative, non-exhaustive incidents, arguing that the approach failed to provide Duterte with sufficient notice of the allegations he would face at trial and made it difficult to prepare a defense strategy.
It asked the court to require prosecutors to seek judicial authorization to add the incidents or remove all eight from their trial brief.
The chamber rejected the defense’s request to order prosecutors to refile a document redefining the charges, saying it had no authority to reconsider or reframe charges confirmed by the Pre-Trial Chamber.
It noted that under Article 61(9) of the Rome Statute, prosecutors must obtain the Pre-Trial Chamber’s permission to amend confirmed charges before the trial begins. The trial chamber said it could not exercise powers exclusively assigned to the Pre-Trial Chamber.
The chamber also said the defense’s challenge to the formulation of the charges sought to revisit matters already considered and decided during the pretrial proceedings.
“The Chamber finds that it is not vested with the authority to order the Prosecution to re-file a document before the Pre-Trial Chamber that reframes the charges."
However, it partially granted the defense’s second motion by ordering prosecutors to remove Incident 57 from their filings.
The prosecution was directed to update its list of witnesses, list of evidence and trial brief by Oct. 16, 2026, to reflect the removal.
The case concerns allegations of crimes against humanity linked to killings during Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. The allegations remain subject to judicial determination.
