ICC: Prosecution in Duterte ICC trial has until July 1 to submit evidence

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution in the International Criminal Court trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte has only until July 1, 2025 to disclose all evidence it will use for the hearing on the confirmation of charges against the former chief executive.

This timetable was announced by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre Trial Chamber 1.

The schedule was made clear by the chamber in a 20-page document signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini Gansou and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera on April 17.

The document states that any items of evidence submitted after that date will not be taken into account for the purposes of the confirmation of charges hearing scheduled on September 23, 2025.

“In view of the foregoing, the Prosecution shall complete the disclosure process by no later than July 1, 2025," the document read.

"This includes all the evidence it intends to rely upon at the confirmation of charges hearing, including the totality of the witness statements and their translations, the exculpatory material that it has identified thus far, and the material falling under rule 77 of the Rules,” it noted.

It likewise said the Prosecution “intends to complete the review and disclosure of evidence currently in its possession by no later than thirty days before the confirmation hearing.”

With this, the chamber reiterated that the prosecution shall expeditiously discharge its disclosure obligations as soon as practicable “on a rolling basis,” and not only on the date when the deadline indicated by the statutory documents, as amended in this order, expires.

“This finding is without prejudice to the Prosecution’s ongoing duty to provide the Defense with any exonerating evidence identified after the aforementioned time limit in accordance with article 67(2) of the Statute, without detracting from the Prosecution’s obligation to identify and disclose all the exculpatory material within the evidence already in its control and possession,” the document states.

“This obligation shall not affect the existing time limits of the proceedings, including the timeline for the disclosure process as outlined above,” it adds.

The prosecutor of the ICC earlier said it has at least 421 documents, nine photos and nearly 16 hours of audio and video files that it would use as evidence against Duterte when he faces the tribunal again in September.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC previously said it applied for an arrest warrant against Duterte  on February 10 for "the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape."

After this, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 assessed the materials submitted by the Prosecution.

It found reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte is “individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines” between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019.

ICC said the warrant of arrest against Duterte was issued as “secret” on  March 7, 2025 and reclassified as “public” on March 11, 2025.

Subsequently, on March 12, Duterte was surrendered by the Philippine government to the ICC after being arrested by the authorities in accordance with the warrant of arrest.

Duterte initially appeared before the chamber’s hearing on March 14 via video link.

At present, the chamber has provisionally scheduled the hearing on the confirmation of charges against the former president on September 23, 2025.

(2025/04/18-13:12)