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MANILA, Philippines — The defense team of former president Rodrigo Duterte has asked the International Criminal Court to tighten key trial procedures, pushing for limits on evidence admission, witness handling and disclosure practices in the crimes against humanity of murder case linked to the Philippines' anti-drug campaign.
In submissions dated June 5, 2026 before Trial Chamber III, Duterte’s new counsel, British lawyer Peter Haynes, urged amendments to the court’s draft “Directions on the Conduct of Proceedings,” saying these are needed to prevent “unnecessary and irrelevant evidence” from overwhelming the case record.
The filing noted that Trial Chamber III intends to follow the procedural framework used in the Al-Rahman case, a previous ICC war crimes trial involving Sudanese militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman. In that case, the court adopted a hybrid approach that balanced early admissibility rulings with later assessment of evidentiary weight.
The defense pushed for a “balanced” approach between admission and submission systems for evidence, saying the current model risks overloading the case record and creating uncertainty on what the chamber may ultimately rely on in its judgment.
“The Defence submits that the Directions should depart from the AlRahman Directions in this respect to reflect a balance between the admission and the submission regimes. This balance would assist the Chamber in safeguarding the integrity of the case record, and also in assessing whether the burden of proof has been discharged by the Prosecution at the close of the presentation of its case,” the document read.
On this basis, the defense proposed allowing judges to rule on the admissibility of key pieces of evidence during presentation, particularly those heavily relied upon by either party.
On witness handling, the defense asked prosecutors to provide detailed breakdowns for all witnesses whose testimony comes from transcribed interviews, citing the chamber’s expectation for “a breakdown in schedule form of the topics which are to be gone through with the witness in the order of which they are to be gone through.”
"The Prosecution has indicated its intention to provide such breakdowns for 'five witnesses especially'. However, witness evidence has been disclosed in the form of lengthy transcribed interviews for many more than five witnesses. In these circumstances, the Defence proposes that the Prosecution be directed to provide detailed breakdowns for all witnesses called to testify whose evidence includes prior transcribed interviews," the document read.
"These breakdowns would assist in clarifying the anticipated content and scope of witnesses’ testimony, facilitating the early identification of issues in dispute. As emphasised by the Chamber, this would contribute to the efficient and expeditious conduct of the trial," it added.
Duterte's camp also argued that parties should not be required to confront witnesses on every disputed point, saying the absence of confrontation should not automatically reduce the weight given to impeachment evidence if the challenge is otherwise clear on record.
The defense further raised concerns over the introduction of large documentary exhibits through witnesses, pointing to instances where “a witness had only spoken as to one page” of extensive materials. It proposed limiting admission to only portions actually addressed in testimony, unless otherwise directed by the chamber.
"The Directions should discourage the wholesale introduction of extensive items of evidence (e.g. Call Data Records, reports, long videos or e-messages) through witnesses whose testimony pertains only to discrete portions thereof. Addressing this issue in the Directions may also help circumvent the need for recurrent litigation on this issue," the document read.
On Rule 68 evidence, it sought to restrict associated exhibits to those used or explained in prior recorded testimony, warning against the admission of “lengthy standalone documents” without sufficient contextual basis.
The team also urged reforms to metadata handling by the ICC Registry, calling for clearer and regularly updated tracking of evidence status across databases accessible to all parties.
“To ensure that the evidentiary record is clear to the parties and participants from the earliest possible stage, the metadata of documents should be consistent across all databases. In these circumstances, the Defence respectfully requests that the Chamber direct the Registry to provide the parties and participants with equivalent metadata updates for their external databases (including Defencejem for the Defence),” the document read.
The submissions come as Trial Chamber III moves to finalize its procedural framework after indicating it would largely adopt the Al-Rahman model while allowing parties to propose refinements.
Trial Chamber III is made up of Presiding Judge Joanna Korner, Judge Keebong Paek and Judge Nicolas Guillou.
During the first status conference on May 27, Korner said the chamber would also order a reexamination of Duterte’s fitness to stand trial in connection with alleged abuses in the anti-drug campaign during his time as Davao City mayor and later as president.
The court also set the start of the trial for Nov. 30, 2026, with two additional status conferences scheduled on June 23 and July 14.
Duterte is facing proceedings before the ICC over allegations linked to his administration’s drug war, which has drawn international scrutiny over thousands of killings.
