MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court’s Trial Chamber III rejected former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense request to require expert verification of open-source evidence, saying the additional step could delay the start of his trial.
The chamber issued the decision on Sept. 28 in Duterte’s crimes against humanity case after his defense team, led by British barrister Peter Haynes, sought changes to the court’s E-Court Protocol.
The defense asked the chamber last month to require prosecutors to add an “expert verification field” to evidence listings for materials that the prosecution intends to cite during the proceedings.
The proposed measure would have added another layer of authentication for user-generated materials and other evidence obtained from open sources.
Trial Chamber III said the additional requirement could prove unnecessary and “could well have the effect of causing a needless delay to the start of the trial.”
Instead, the chamber accepted a prosecution proposal to add a URL field to the E-Court Protocol for open-source evidence. The field will allow parties and participants to access the cited materials directly.
The prosecution, defense and common legal representatives of victims agreed to the proposed amendment.
“Under these circumstances, the chamber is satisfied that it is appropriate to grant the request and decides to amend the E-Court Protocol as requested,” the chamber said in its seven-page decision.
The chamber ordered the ICC Registry, the court’s administrative arm, to implement the changes to the E-Court Protocol by Oct. 2.
The deadline comes less than two months before Duterte’s scheduled trial.
