Philippines’ Duterte to undergo another health check to determine fitness for ICC trial

The International Criminal Court ordered a medical assessment of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to determine whether he is fit to stand trial, with proceedings set to start in November. It is the second time that Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity over his drug war that killed thousands of people, will undergo a health check ordered by the court. The ICC’s pre-trial chamber found in January that the former leader, who ruled the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was fit to take part in pre-trial proceedings. “The concept of ‘fitness to stand trial’ must be viewed as an aspect of the broader notion of fair trial which is rooted in the idea that whenever the accused is, for reasons of ill health, unable to meaningfully exercise his or her procedural rights, the trial cannot be fair and criminal proceedings must be adjourned until the obstacles cease to exist,” a chamber of the court said in a decision released on Friday. Duterte’s team requested the procedure after saying last month that although a medical examination was conducted on the former president during the pre-trial phase, the 81-year-old’s “condition continues to deteriorate and will need more fully to be reviewed before any trial may commence”.

The court said the same panel of medical experts who examined Duterte for the pre-trial proceedings will assess his health, a move supported by both the prosecution and defence teams. They have to submit a report by August before the court determines whether the trial will begin as scheduled on November 30. Duterte, who has admitted to using a “death squad” to execute criminals, has been detained in an ICC facility in The Hague since March last year when the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr enabled his arrest. His daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, called the ICC move a “kidnapping”, further fuelling her feud with Marcos, with whom she ran in the 2022 election on a joint ticket, winning by a landslide.

The ICC Trial Chamber III, led by Judge Joanna Korner, said in its latest ruling that it was not required that an accused’s capacity was at the highest level for them to understand trial proceedings, instruct counsel or make a statement. “The threshold is satisfied when an accused possesses these capacities, viewed overall and in a reasonable manner,” it said.