Former president Rodrigo Duterte will remain in detention after judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected his appeal for temporary release.  

In a 29-page decision dated Friday, March 6, the court’s Appeals Chamber unanimously upheld the earlier ruling of Pre-Trial Chamber I ordering that the former president remain in custody while proceedings continue.  

“The Appeals judges unanimously confirm the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I, which had remanded Mr. Duterte in detention,” ICC spokesperson Oriane Maillet said. “The Appeals Chamber rejected or dismissed all of the Defense’s arguments and rejected the Defense’s ground of appeal in its entirety.”  

The defense had argued that the earlier decision contained errors of law and fact and amounted to an abuse of discretion. However, the Appeals Chamber said it would intervene only if such errors had materially affected the ruling.  

“If the relevant chamber committed such an error, the Appeals Chamber will intervene only if the error materially affected the decision under appeal,” the judges wrote. “A decision is materially affected by an error of law if the chamber would have rendered a substantially different decision had it not made the error.”  

The judges said their review followed the standard applied under Article 82 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which governs appeals before the court.  

“It will intervene only when it cannot discern how the Chamber’s conclusion could have reasonably been reached from the evidence before it,” the ruling said, adding that the Appeals Chamber applies “a standard of reasonableness in assessing an alleged error of fact under Article 82 of the Statute.”  

Health Concerns Raised

Duterte’s legal team also cited his health, including alleged cognitive impairment, as grounds for release.  

Judges said the matter had already been raised during the initial detention proceedings.  

“The Pre-Trial Chamber recalled that this issue had already been raised by the defence at the time of the issuance of the initial decision on detention,” the Appeals Chamber said.  

It also noted that on December 5, 2025, the chamber received medical reports from an independent panel that had examined the former president.  

The defense argued that its own report constituted a “new circumstance” under Article 60(3) of the Rome Statute, which allows a review of detention if circumstances change.  

However, the Appeals Chamber said the report contained no new examination and relied largely on information already included in the panel’s findings.  

“With a view to preserving the fairness of the proceedings, the Chamber shall not rely on medical reports provided by a party to the proceedings,” the ruling stated.  

Time Alone Not Grounds for Release

The judges also rejected the argument that the passage of time justified the former president’s release.  

“The passage of time alone does not per se lead to the conclusion that circumstances have changed in favour of interim release,” the judgment said.  

Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, criticized the decision, saying it reflected what he described as a broader policy of the court.  

“In my opinion, the reasoning disclosed in the latest judgment simply reinforces the Court’s policy of never releasing any surrendered suspect in a crimes against humanity case – no matter what his personal humanitarian circumstances,” Kaufman said.

📷 ICC