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January 12, 2026 | 5:14pm
This photograph taken on March 14, 2025 shows the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
AFP / Nicolas Tucat
MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber I denied detained former President Rodrigo Duterte's request to appeal a ruling on the disclosure of communications between the court's Registry and a panel of medical experts.
In a decision issued January 9, the chamber rejected the defense's bid to elevate the dispute to the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber.
"The Chamber hereby rejects the Request," the ruling stated.
The decision arose from a Dec. 11, 2025 resolution in which the chamber denied the defense's request for disclosure of all communications between the ICC Registry and a three-member panel of medical experts.
The panel members were appointed to conduct a medical examination of Duterte under the court's Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
On December 17, Duterte's defense sought "leave to appeal," arguing that the pre-trial chamber failed to assess how the communications were material to their preparation or what risks non-disclosure could pose to investigations.
Court: Defense sought to relitigate issues
The chamber said, however, the defense was largely attempting to relitigate issues already addressed in the December disclosure decision. Its arguments, moreover, were based on a misreading of the court's findings.
"At the outset, the Chamber notes that, in the Request, to a large extent the Defence only repeats or develops arguments in an attempt to relitigate issues that have been addressed in the Decision on Disclosure of Communications, including whether granting the Defence's access to the information sought in the Request for Disclosure of Communications is warranted," the decision read.
The chamber reiterated its earlier conclusion that the defense already has all necessary information about the Registry's interactions with the medical experts.
"The Defence further misrepresents the Decision on Disclosure of Communications as the argument that the Chamber assumed the Defence's awareness ‘of the entirety of the transmitted materials' to the Panel is solely premised on the assertion that the Chamber's relevant instructions to the Registry would have lacked clarity," it added.
On January 7, the pre-trial chamber also rejected Duterte's request for an additional expert report on his medical condition.
