A three-member medical panel convened by judges of the International Criminal Court has concluded that former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is able to take part in pre-trial proceedings, a finding that has drawn sharply different responses from prosecutors and the defense.
In recent court submissions, both sides acknowledged that the independent experts determined Duterte to be “competent for the purpose of the pre-trial proceedings,” even as they disagreed on how much weight the assessment should carry.
The panel was tasked by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to conduct a separate evaluation of Duterte’s health amid claims from the defense that cognitive decline had left him unable to stand trial. According to the prosecution, the doctors found that Duterte could comprehend the accusations and supporting material, grasp the nature and potential outcomes of the proceedings, and provide instructions to his legal team.
ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang cited these findings in a nine-page filing released Thursday, arguing that the case should move forward. He asked judges to determine that Duterte is “capable of meaningfully exercising his procedural and fair trial rights, and that he is fit to participate in the pre-trial proceedings, including the confirmation hearing.”
Niang further wrote: “Upon completion of their assessments, Panel members individually reached the same overall conclusion that, while frail and elderly, Mr. Duterte nevertheless possesses the necessary capacities to meaningfully exercise his procedural and fair trial rights.”
On this basis, the prosecution urged the chamber to resume the stalled proceedings against the former leader.
Duterte’s counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, disputed the reliability of the panel’s collective assessment, insisting that it should not be treated as decisive. In a separate 12-page submission, he argued that the experts’ approaches differed in ways that weakened their shared conclusion.
“Such internal inconsistencies undermine the overall weight of the general joint conclusion on fitness. Before rendering a decision on the matter, the Pre-Trial Chamber must seek further clarification,” Kaufman wrote.
He called for an “evidentiary hearing” where the parties could question how the experts arrived at their views, the reasoning behind them, and the methods used during their interviews with Duterte.
The judges have not yet ruled on the defense request to suspend the proceedings on grounds that Duterte is “unfit” to stand trial, nor on the prosecution’s call to move ahead with the case.
