The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) urged the Appeals Chamber to deny the defense’s request for former President Rodrigo Duterte to file a further reply in the ongoing appeal over the Court’s jurisdiction.
In a December 11, 2025 filing, prosecution deputy Mandiaye Niang called the defense request “unwarranted” and argued it should be dismissed. The appeal follows a Pre-Trial Chamber decision affirming the ICC’s jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes in the Philippines, despite its withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.
While the Chamber ruled in favor of the prosecution on jurisdiction, it included additional legal reasoning on treaty articles contested by the prosecution.
The defense claimed a reply was needed because the prosecution raised a procedural point it could not have anticipated.
The prosecution countered that the core legal issues were already debated, noting that the suggestion for potential further submissions is “purely procedural in nature and occasions no prejudice.”
“Whether the defense anticipated this particular proposal… is irrelevant, since it is purely procedural in nature and occasions no prejudice,” the filing said.
The five-judge Appeals Chamber, presided over by Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, will decide whether to allow the defense reply or proceed with consideration of the main jurisdiction appeal.
The case concerns alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Philippines’ “war on drugs” from 2011 to 2019.