Jonathan Frederic De Santos

A protester holds a life-size cartboard cutouts of former Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte during a demonstration in his support outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on February 23, 2026. Simon Wohlfahrt, AFP/File

Article (news)

A protester holds a life-size cartboard cutouts of former Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte during a demonstration in his support outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on February 23, 2026. Simon Wohlfahrt, AFP/File 

Zen Hernandez

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177754198440717769362455731776936242916.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>A protester holds a life-size cartboard cutouts of former Philippines&#x27; president Rodrigo Duterte during a demonstration in his support outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on February 23, 2026. Simon Wohlfahrt, AFP/File </div>MANILA (UPDATED) — Former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s legal team has asked the International Criminal Court for &quot;leave&quot;, or permission, to appeal the confirmation of crimes against humanity charges against the former leader.In a filing with the ICC, lawyer Nicholas Kaufman said the Pre-Trial Chamber I committed errors in deciding that the case against Duterte over killings in his &quot;war on drugs&quot; while president and while he was a Davao City official should proceed to trial.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/23/rome-statute-requires-duterte-s-presence-at-icc-trial-1757">Rome Statute requires Duterte&#x27;s presence at ICC trial </a></div>Kaufman said the chamber used a &quot;flexible&quot; approach to the formulation of charges, which, said allowed an open-ended formulation of the charges, permitting their factual scope to remain undefined and thereby failing to delineate the parameters of the case at the confirmation stage, as required by both practice and procedure.&quot;He also argued that PTC I had failed &quot;to articulate a reasoned evidentiary basis for confirming the charges.&quot;Kaufman said the chamber had not linked &quot;its factual findings to the evidence nor did it engage with central Defence submissions, including the absence of a &#x27;common plan&#x27;&quot; to allegedly kill suspected drug personalities.The defense also expressed concern over how the decision permits the prosecution to introduce or expand its allegations in the trial phase of the case.The defense argued that the confirmation of charges is designed to determine whether there are substantial grounds to believe that a suspect committed the crimes charged, and believes that in so doing, must also define the factual parameters of the case for trial.The second ground raised by the defense is that the chamber allegedly failed to identify an evidentiary basis that supports its conclusion that there was a common plan between Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators.The defense also questioned why the Pre-Trial Chamber did not address several of its submissions, including questions on victims’ identities and alleged use of testimony from one witness to support count 3, which refers to barangay drug operations, locally known as “Oplan Tokhang.” It also alleged deficiencies in conducting incident-specific assessments of alleged crimes.“Proceedings are fair only in so far as they are transparent and fully respect the rights of the person brought before the Court. Fairness requires that an accused person be informed of the nature of the case against him with sufficient specificity and that the confirmation decision disclose, with clarity, the basis on which the evidentiary threshold has been met. The absence of such clarity at the pre-trial stage directly impacts the ability of the Defence to prepare its case and consequently, may affect the outcome of the trial,” the filing stated.“As a result, the charges remain insufficiently defined, both in scope and with respect to its evidentiary basis. This uncertainty impairs the Defence’s ability to investigate, to respond to the allegations, and to anticipate the case to be met at trial,” it further said.Under Article 82(1)(d) of the Rome Statute, leave to appeal may be granted if the issue significantly affects the fairness or outcome of proceedings and if early resolution would materially advance the case. The defense argues both criteria are met, saying immediate intervention by the Appeals Chamber will eliminate the “risk advancing on an unclear and legally deficient basis.&quot;The ICC spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the requests is for the judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber to decide.“It is for the judges do decide whether or not to grant the authorisation and we cannot speculate on their decision to be made in due course.”<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/23/icc-confirms-all-charges-vs-duterte-commits-him-to-trial-1649">Duterte to face ICC trial after judges confirm charges</a></div>The prosecution has yet to respond to the issues raised by Kaufman, but Filipino lawyer Gilbert Andres, who is assisting the ICC Office of Public Counsel for Victims said over the weekend that the confirmation of charges had legal basis.“Kung ano man ang mga argumento tungkol sa credibility ng witness hindi po ‘yan sa Pre-Trial Chamber, ‘yan ay sa trial proper,” Andres said in response to an earlier comment by Kaufman that the chamber had not checked whether prosecution witnesses were credible.(Whatever arguments on the credibility of the witnesses is for the trial proper, not the Pre-Trial Chamber)“Nagkaroon ng proseso doon sa confirmation of the charges… So, talagang nirespeto ang right to fair trial nung suspek,” he also said.(There was a process for the confirmation of the charges... so the suspect&#x27;s right to a fair trial was really respected)<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/25/andres-says-icc-prosecution-ready-to-prove-credibility-of-witnesses-vs-duterte-1603">Andres says ICC Prosecution ready to prove credibility of witnesses vs. Duterte </a></div>

Former President Rodrigo Duterte's legal team has asked the International Criminal Court for "leave", or permission, to appeal the confirmation of crimes against humanity charges against the former leader.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte's legal team has asked the International Criminal Court for "leave", or permission, to appeal the confirmation of crimes against humanity charges against the former leader.

Duterte defense team seeks to appeal ICC confirmation of charges

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Duterte defense team seeks to appeal ICC confirmation of charges

Jonathan de Santos,

Zen Hernandez,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 30, 2026 05:45 PM PHT

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Updated April 30, 2026 06:13 PM PHT

Read More:

International Criminal Court

Rodrigo Duterte

Nicholas Kaufman

Pre-Trial Chamber I

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