Rodrigo Duterte, who served as President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022 and earlier as Mayor of Davao City, is an accused person before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He has not been tried and no verdict has been given. The Court issued a warrant for his arrest on March 7, 2025 on the basis that there were reasonable grounds to believe he bears criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of murder. Philippine authorities arrested him and surrendered him to the Court on March 12, 2025. On April 23, 2026 Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed three counts of murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity and committed him to trial. The opening of that trial is scheduled for November 30, 2026. He denies the charges.
The Pre-Trial Chamber found substantial grounds to believe that Duterte was Vice Mayor of Davao City from November 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013, Mayor of Davao City from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2016, and President of the Philippines from June 30, 2016 until at least March 16, 2019. At his first appearance in March 2025 he gave his date of birth as March 28, 1945 and his birthplace as Leyte. The charges concern conduct attributed to him in those three offices, between 2011 and 2019 in the Court's description of the period under investigation, and between 2013 and September 2018 in the counts as confirmed.
Pre-Trial Chamber I issued the warrant under seal on March 7, 2025. The prosecution's request had alleged crimes against humanity, including murder, committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019, with Duterte as an indirect co-perpetrator under article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute. The warrant itself covered the crime against humanity of murder under article 7(1)(a). Philippine authorities arrested Duterte and surrendered him to the Court on March 12, 2025.
Duterte made his first appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber I on March 14, 2025 by video link. The Chamber told the parties that the hearing was neither the start of the trial nor a confirmation of charges hearing. Its purpose was to confirm that he had been informed of the charges and of his rights under the Rome Statute, and to set a date for the confirmation hearing. The hearing was conducted in English, which he said he understands. The Court Officer read two counts of crimes against humanity of murder, covering at least 19 killings in and around Davao City between 2011 and 2016 and at least 24 killings across the Philippines between 2016 and 2019. The Chamber set the confirmation of charges hearing for September 23, 2025. Defense counsel raised objections about the circumstances of his transfer to The Hague and asked to postpone the substantive part of the hearing; the Chamber had already rejected that request.
The Defense filed a challenge to the Court's jurisdiction on May 1, 2025. Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected it on October 23, 2025. The Appeals Chamber, by majority, dismissed the appeal on April 22, 2026, rejecting all four grounds and finding the Defense request for immediate release moot. The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute with effect from March 2019, and the Appeals Chamber held that withdrawal does not automatically end the Court's jurisdiction over crimes alleged to have occurred while the State was a party.
The Defense first requested interim release on June 13, 2025. After the Defense asked the Chamber to suspend its decision, it filed a new notification on September 16, 2025. On September 26, 2025 Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected interim release; the decision was made public on October 10, 2025. The Appeals Chamber dismissed the appeal on November 28, 2025. At the first annual review, the Appeals Chamber unanimously affirmed the detention decision on March 6, 2026. In May 2026, after the charges were confirmed, the Pre-Trial Chamber again ordered that he remain in detention, finding a real and substantial risk of flight or interference with the proceedings.
After Trial Chamber III took over the case, it conducted a second review of detention under article 60(3) of the Rome Statute and decided on September 16, 2026 that he remains in detention. The Chamber noted that the trial date had been set, that the prosecution had disclosed its evidence and filed its witness and evidence lists and trial brief, and that these developments increased the risk of flight and of interference with witnesses. The Defense submissions identified no new facts or changed circumstances. He is held in ICC detention in The Hague.
In September 2025 the confirmation hearing set for September 23 was postponed after the Defense asked for an indefinite adjournment on fitness grounds. The Chamber appointed three independent medical experts. On January 26, 2026 it found Duterte fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings and rejected the request for an indefinite adjournment, holding that fitness is a legal question about whether a suspect can meaningfully exercise procedural and fair-trial rights. The experts unanimously concluded that he has the mental capacities needed to understand the charges, follow the proceedings and instruct counsel. The Defense raised fitness again before the trial, and on October 8, 2026 Trial Chamber III ruled that he is fit to stand trial, after a new independent panel of experts examined the question.
The confirmation of charges hearing was held from February 23 to 27, 2026. Duterte did not attend; the Chamber had granted his requests to waive attendance. The Chamber authorized 539 victims to participate in the confirmation proceedings and appointed common legal representatives for them. At this stage the Chamber had to decide whether there were substantial grounds to believe that the charged crimes were committed, a lower standard than at trial. Questions of credibility and the weight of the evidence were left for the Trial Chamber.
On April 23, 2026 Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously confirmed all charges under article 61(7) of the Statute, committed Duterte to a Trial Chamber and ordered the Registrar to transmit the decision and the record to the Presidency. The three counts, each a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(a), are:
Count 1: murder in Davao City during the period when he was Mayor, at least 19 victims, between 2013 and around June 2016. Count 2: murder in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period, at least 14 victims, between around July 2016 and July 2017. Count 3: murder and attempted murder in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period, at least 45 victims (43 murders and two attempted murders), between around July 2016 and September 2018.
The modes of liability charged include indirect co-perpetration under article 25(3)(a), ordering or inducing under article 25(3)(b) and aiding and abetting under article 25(3)(c). The Chamber stated that the incident and victim figures are not definitive. It found the contextual elements of crimes against humanity established to the confirmation standard. Confirmation of charges is not a finding of guilt.
The Presidency constituted Trial Chamber III on April 24, 2026. On May 27, 2026 the Chamber announced that the trial would open on November 30, 2026 and held the first of several status conferences. Duterte has waived his right to attend those hearings. He appeared in person at the Court for the first time on September 16, 2026, at a status conference on disclosure of evidence and the trial timetable, and the Chamber's finding that he is fit to stand trial followed on October 8, 2026. As of November 12, 2026 the trial has not begun.
Duterte denies the charges. No trial has taken place, no evidence has been tested at trial, and none of the allegations has been proved. The Pre-Trial Chamber's findings were made to the confirmation standard of substantial grounds to believe, and it stated that the figures for incidents and victims are not definitive. The Defense has challenged the Court's jurisdiction, the circumstances of his transfer to The Hague and his fitness to take part; the jurisdiction challenge was rejected at both levels, and the Court has found him fit.
November 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013: Vice Mayor of Davao City (Court's finding at confirmation).
June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2016: Mayor of Davao City.
June 30, 2016: President of the Philippines (until 2022; the charge period runs to September 2018).
March 2019: Philippines' withdrawal from the Rome Statute takes effect.
March 7, 2025: Pre-Trial Chamber I issues the arrest warrant for the crime against humanity of murder.
March 12, 2025: Duterte is arrested by Philippine authorities and surrendered to the Court.
March 14, 2025: first appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber I.
May 1, 2025: Defense files jurisdiction challenge.
September 26, 2025: Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects interim release.
October 23, 2025: jurisdiction challenge rejected.
November 28, 2025: Appeals Chamber dismisses the appeal on interim release.
January 26, 2026: Pre-Trial Chamber I finds him fit to take part in pre-trial proceedings.
February 23 to 27, 2026: confirmation of charges hearing.
March 6, 2026: Appeals Chamber affirms the detention decision.
April 22, 2026: Appeals Chamber affirms jurisdiction.
April 23, 2026: charges confirmed; committed to trial.
April 24, 2026: Trial Chamber III constituted.
May 27, 2026: trial date set for November 30, 2026.
September 16, 2026: first in-person appearance; Trial Chamber III orders continued detention.
October 8, 2026: Trial Chamber III finds him fit to stand trial.
November 30, 2026: scheduled opening of the trial.