THE International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution has urged the Appeals Chamber to reject a defense request allowing former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to submit an additional reply in the ongoing appeal over the Court’s jurisdiction.
In a filing dated December 11, 2025, Deputy Prosecutor Mandiaye Niang described the defense’s request as “unwarranted” and called for its dismissal.
The appeal challenges a Pre-Trial Chamber decision affirming the ICC’s authority to investigate alleged crimes in the Philippines, despite the country’s 2019 withdrawal from the Rome Statute. While the Chamber sided with the prosecution on jurisdiction, it added legal reasoning on other treaty provisions, which the prosecution disputes.
The defense argued that it should be allowed to respond because the prosecution raised a procedural point regarding potential further submissions, a “new request” it could not have anticipated.
The prosecution countered that the core legal issues were already fully debated, noting that the defense could reasonably have anticipated the prosecution’s stance, given prior disagreements over Articles 12(2) and 13(c) of the Rome Statute.
The filing also stressed that any procedural suggestion by the prosecution for future submissions is neutral and does not prejudice the defense.
“Whether the defense anticipated this particular proposal… is irrelevant, since it is purely procedural in nature and occasions no prejudice,” the filing stated.
The five-judge Appeals Chamber, headed by Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, will decide whether to allow Duterte’s defense an additional filing or proceed with the main appeal on jurisdiction.
The case pertains to the ICC investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Philippines’ “war on drugs” between 2011 and 2019.