Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands on March 14, 2025. Handout/ICC via Flickr
MANILA — The prosecution and the victims' counsel opposed former President Rodrigo Duterte's motion challenging the form of the charges against him before the International Criminal Court.
In an earlier motion dated August 31, the Duterte's defense team wants the prosecution to "reframe" the crimes against humanity charges against him and file an updated document before the pre-trial chamber of the ICC.
Defense counsel Peter Haynes said the original document containing the charges filed by the prosecution "is not fit for purpose and should be struck out."
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In two separate responses dated September 10, however, both parties argued that the motion should be dismissed, saying the documents containing the charges have already been confirmed and sufficiently delineated by the Pre-Trial Chamber.
"Although presented as a challenge to the 'form' of the Document Containing the Charges, it contests, in substance, the manner in which Pre-Trial Chamber I delineated and confirmed the charges," the common legal representatives of the victims said in their response.
"In the Confirmation Decision, the Pre-Trial Chamber explained the distinction between the two notions. In doing so, it applied relevant and settled jurisprudence of the Court," the prosecution added.
The prosecution also further argued that ICC jurisprudence does not require the charging document to list every criminal act underlying a charge.
The victims' representatives make the same argument, saying that requiring an exhaustive list could artificially narrow a case involving "alleged large-scale and systematic criminality." It added such can exclude victims whose experiences fall within the charged conduct.
The prosecution however also clarified that Duterte can only be held individually responsible for incidents that fall within the confirmed scope and for which the prosecution proves his criminal responsibility beyond reasonable doubt.
"Mr Duterte is not charged with individual responsibility for all those acts even if proven. Rather, he will only be held responsible only for those incidents to which it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that he contributed, with intent and knowledge."
Duterte's next status conference is scheduled for Sept. 16, while the trial is set to start on Nov. 30, 2026.