A picture taken on November 23, 2015 shows the new building of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands. Martijn Beekman/AFP/File
MANILA — International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors have rejected a motion by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team to require expert verification reports for all open-source and user-generated digital evidence, calling it "unreasonable, unnecessary, and against the interests of judicial efficiency."
Duterte lawyer asks ICC to screen digital evidence before Nov 30 trial
In a public redacted filing, ad interim Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang argued against altering the court’s E-Court Protocol to add a mandatory "expert verification field" for digital assets, including crowdsourced submissions.
"Open source and user-generated evidence are extremely broad categories of documents," Niang said.
"Whether open source or user-generated evidence requires an accompanying expert report should be determined on a case-by-case basis by the submitting party."
While acknowledging the threat of digital tampering and AI-generated disinformation, the prosecutors cautioned against overburdening the legal process by requiring expert reports for official UN documents or established news reports.
"The Court must be vigilant in its assessment of open source evidence," the prosecution said, stressing that response measures must be proportionate to avoid "significant burdens that unnecessarily hamper judicial efficiency and ultimately, risk delaying the start of the trial."
Duterte faces charges of crimes against humanity linked to his administration's anti-drug campaign, with proceedings handled by Trial Chamber III.
RELATED VIDEO: