MANILA—The defense team of former President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trial Chamber III to order the prosecution to refile the document containing the charges (DCC), arguing that its current form violates his right to be informed in detail of the nature, cause and content of the allegations against him.

In an 11-page filing dated Aug. 31, Duterte’s lead counsel Peter Haynes said the DCC is framed around non-exhaustive and illustrative incidents rather than a clear and settled set of facts supporting separate counts under the ICC Statute.

“Rather than containing a clear set of settled facts and circumstances supporting separate counts (being crimes under the ICC Statute), the document containing the charges (“DCC”) has been framed around illustrative non-exhaustive incidents, grouped under topical headings,” he said.

The defense asked the chamber to direct the prosecution to submit a new charging document that defines the scope of the counts and provides an exhaustive list of the acts underpinning them.

“The accused cannot even begin to make strategic decisions about how to approach this case, because he does not know what case he has to meet,” the defense said.

“The Duterte charges are a literal moving target; a non-exhaustive, illustrative list of events whose proof beyond reasonable doubt may or may not trigger liability for thousands of others, and whose evidential value remains entirely unclear,” it added.

The ICC confirmed in April that Duterte faces three counts covering 49 incidents.

Count 1 involves murder as a crime against humanity in Davao City during Duterte’s period as mayor, involving at least 19 victims between 2013 and around June 2016.

Count 2 concerns murder as a crime against humanity involving at least 14 alleged victims classified as “high-value targets” in locations across the Philippines during his presidency between around July 2016 and July 2017.

Count 3 covers murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity allegedly committed during barangay clearance operations across the Philippines between around July 2016 and September 2018. The count involves at least 45 victims—43 alleged murders and two attempted murders.

The defense noted that it had since received notice of details of eight additional incidents submitted by the prosecution, bringing the total number of incidents listed to 57.

“[C]onsistent practice has been for charging documents to be divided into topical headings, usually geographical areas with corresponding time periods, or overarching events,” it said.

“Under each topical heading, the counts are then listed together with the legal and factual basis being alleged in support of each. In this way, the accused is duly notified of the allegations in detail, as required,” it added.

According to the defense, the prosecution’s approach is “entirely different and entirely novel.”

“The topical headings have been elevated to the status of counts allegedly committed over an extended period and across a large geographical area,” it said.

The defense argued that a “count” has traditionally referred to an individual crime under the ICC Statute, while the specific acts allegedly committed were placed in the DCC as “non-exhaustive and illustrative-only incidents without legal characterization.”

“The Prosecution’s decision to frame the charges in this entirely novel way makes it impossible for the defendant to know what case he has to meet at trial,” it said.

The defense also raised concerns over the volume of evidence disclosed by the prosecution.

“Keeping in mind that the Prosecution had disclosed around 5,000 documents as at the date of the confirmation decision, which has now increased by over 400% to over 25,000 items at the date of writing, the Defence team has no chance of even reading this full volume of disclosure before the start of the trial, let alone being aware of every alleged murder or killing contained therein and being ready to defend against them,” it said.

Haynes also claimed that some of the additional materials describe alleged killings unrelated to the incidents and suspects identified in the charges and were disclosed “en masse” in a manner that could obstruct the defense’s preparation.

The defense further argued that the current framing of the charges could make it difficult for the Trial Chamber to determine whether alleged acts form part of a widespread or systematic attack, including the required connection between the acts and the broader attack.

“Where there are no pleaded underlying acts, but rather only ‘non-exhaustive’ and ‘illustrative’ examples of alleged conduct by perpetrators, the Prosecution can circumvent these requirements,” it said.

“Meaning, that the trial could end with the Prosecution having done nothing more than establishing a certain number of ‘illustrative incidents’ but without any of the requisite contextual elements necessary to link the charged acts back to the charged counts,” it added.

The defense said the proposed refiling is the appropriate remedy, with the charges framed in terms of counts with a defined scope and an exhaustive list of underpinning acts.

Duterte has been detained at the ICC detention center in The Hague since his transfer from the Philippines in March 2025.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the charges against him on April 23, allowing the case to proceed to trial. The trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 30 before Trial Chamber III.

The case stems from allegations of killings linked to Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs. Duterte has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines following the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.