The International Criminal Court’s Trial Chamber III has rejected former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bid to require expert verification of open-source and user-generated evidence, finding that the additional process could be unnecessary and delay the start of his trial.
The ruling was issued September 28 in a decision concerning amendments to the E-Court Protocol governing the handling of open-source and user-generated material in the case.
The chamber cited the volume of evidence already disclosed by the prosecution and the breadth of the material covered by the proposed verification requirement.
“Given the large volume of evidence that has been made available by the Prosecution in the present case, as well as the breadth of open-source and user-generated evidence, such obligation, if implemented, may in the event be unnecessary and could well have the effect of causing a needless delay to the start of the trial,” the chamber said.
Duterte’s defense had sought the additional verification process amid concerns over the volume of evidence disclosed by the prosecution.
The chamber noted that it had already issued multiple orders during the third status conference to address issues arising from the volume of evidence in the case.
While rejecting the added verification requirement, the chamber granted the prosecution’s request to create a URL metadata field for open-source evidence.
The field is intended to identify the URL associated with the material at the time it was captured, giving the parties and the chamber a way to more easily identify the source of the material.
The defense has separately criticized the prosecution’s disclosure process, describing it as a “terrible mess.” The prosecution disputed that characterization, saying the claims were not entirely accurate and were “really exaggerated.”
Duterte’s defense has also asked the court to limit the amount of evidence in the case, saying the volume had increased by almost 1,000%.
Duterte is facing crimes against humanity charges before the ICC over alleged killings during his time as Davao City mayor and Philippine president. He was arrested in Pasay City on March 11, 2025, and transferred to ICC custody in The Hague.
His trial is scheduled to begin on November 30.
