Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is medically capable of participating in International Criminal Court pre-trial proceedings, a panel of experts has concluded, despite his age and frailty.
The independent medical panel, appointed by ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, assessed Duterte between October 8 and November 18 to determine whether he could meaningfully engage in the confirmation hearing of charges against him.
The panel interviewed, examined, and tested the former president.
“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,” the prosecution said in a December 18 filing.
Each expert found that Duterte can understand the charges and evidence, comprehend the purpose and potential consequences of pre-trial proceedings, and provide instructions to his counsel for the preparation and conduct of his defense.
“These findings are clear and unanimous, and should be relied upon by the Chamber as authoritative, to determine that Mr. Duterte is fit to stand trial,” Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said.
He emphasized that the panel used specific tests to assess whether Duterte was underperforming, and concluded that he was “unreliable” in his responses, but not deliberately so.
The prosecution also recommended accommodations to account for Duterte’s health, including regular breaks, nutritious meals aligned with his preferences, simple repeated questioning, and time to process information.
However, Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, disputes the conclusiveness of the report.
He argued that while the panel assessed Duterte’s “rudimentary ability to engage in a criminal process,” it remains unclear whether the experts fully understood the complexity of ICC confirmation proceedings, which involve thousands of items of evidence spanning more than four years.
“For this reason, the Defence seeks an evidentiary hearing whereby the parties will be able to clarify the conclusions of the experts, the reasons for such conclusions, the methodology adopted during the interviews, and the means whereby instructions were communicated to them,” Kaufman said.
He also suggested that the recommended questioning format itself indicates a need to accommodate cognitive impairment.
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity—one per context—for 49 incidents of killings, involving 78 victims connected to the Philippines’ war on drugs and the Davao Death Squad.
The ICC is currently on break and will resume proceedings on January 5, 2026, when it will determine whether to adopt the medical panel’s findings and proceed with the pre-trial hearing.
