ICC rejects Duterte camp’s request on digital evidence
Trial judges of the International Criminal Court have rejected the request of the defense team of former president Rodrigo Duterte to adopt a stricter protocol in verifying digital materials.
Source: Philstar Headlines · September 30, 2026 at 1:12 AM · AI-assisted report
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THE HAGUE, 30 SEPTEMBER 2026 —
Trial judges of the International Criminal Court have rejected a request by the defense team of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to impose a stricter verification protocol for digital evidence, issuing a seven-page decision on Sept. 26 that upholds the prosecution’s existing evidentiary framework.
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The ruling by ICC Trial Chamber III denies the defense’s proposed amendment to the E-Court Protocol, which would have required an “expert verification” field for all open-source and user-generated evidence submitted by the prosecution.
The chamber said such a requirement would shift the burden to the prosecution to prepare additional materials on relevance and admissibility before the defense has analyzed the evidence and raised objections, contrary to the established framework that places the onus on the defense to identify issues with individual items.
“The requested amendment, if implemented, requires the prosecution to prepare additional materials that contain information regarding the relevance and admissibility of open-source and user-generated evidence, before the defence analyses evidence and raises any abovementioned issues,” the decision read.
Defense lawyer Peter Haynes had argued that the case operates in “a uniquely challenging information ecosystem, in which a large volume of misinformation, or ‘fake news’ has circulated and will continue to circulate, online.” He added that “the defence is concerned that the evidentiary record in the present case risks being overwhelmed by material of dubious relevance, authenticity and reliability.”
Acting ICC prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang opposed the request, describing it as “unreasonable, unnecessary and against the interests of judicial efficiency.” Niang wrote that open-source and user-generated evidence “are extremely broad categories of documents that capture numerous types of evidence,” and whether an expert report is needed “should be determined on a case-by-case basis by the submitting party that has the burden of establishing its relevance, probative value and assessing its potential prejudicial effect.”
The chamber instead granted the prosecution’s request to add a URL metadata field for each open-source or user-generated evidence item, allowing parties to identify the link “associated with the open source evidence at the time it was captured.” The decision shapes how digital material will be managed in the proceedings against Duterte and sets a procedural marker for the treatment of online evidence in international criminal trials.
Related: International Criminal Court · Rodrigo Duterte