Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the final hearing before his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), after the court’s Trial Chamber III approved his request to skip the fifth status conference in his crimes against humanity case. The conference is scheduled for November 2, and Duterte’s lawyers will attend in his place to deal with the procedural matters on the agenda.
The decision, reported on November 1, marks a change from Duterte’s recent appearances. He attended the third and fourth status conferences in person, on September 16 and October 13, after being detained in The Hague since March 2025. This time, his defence team submitted a waiver of appearance, and the chamber granted the request and directed the defence to file his signed waiver, which was submitted on October 30.
Key Takeaways
- Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will skip the fifth ICC status conference on November 2, with his lawyers attending in his place.
- ICC Trial Chamber III approved the waiver, which was submitted after Duterte notified the chamber of his decision on October 28.
- The status conference is the last scheduled hearing before Duterte’s trial, which is set to open on November 30.
What the Waiver Means
Duterte’s defence team, led by lawyer Peter Haynes, told Trial Chamber III on October 28 that he wished to waive his right to appear at the conference. The chamber granted the request the following day. In the waiver, Duterte instructed his lawyers to address the procedural matters listed on the conference agenda, as well as any other issues that may be discussed during the hearing.
The waiver changes who sits in the room, not the course of the case. His detention and the November 30 trial date are unchanged, and the conference itself is expected to deal with procedure rather than evidence or verdicts. A document dated October 30, reporting the waiver, did not specify reasons for the decision, according to Agence France-Presse reporting.
The waiver changes who sits in the room, not the course of the case.
What Happens at a Status Conference
Status conferences give the parties in a case, including the common legal representatives of victims, a chance to discuss procedures and resolve disagreements before a trial begins. According to the agenda released by the court, the fifth status conference will cover the daily sitting schedule, audio-visual link testimony and the rights of the audience, the list of witnesses, and the number of hours for the prosecution’s evidence and potentially exculpatory evidence.
Status conferences are procedural hearings, and they are distinct from the trial itself — a distinction also visible in other prominent court cases reported this week. The November 2 conference is therefore a step toward the trial, not the trial itself, and its outcomes will shape how the proceedings are organised when they open.
- The fifth status conference is scheduled for November 2, ahead of a November 30 trial opening.
- Duterte attended the third and fourth status conferences in person, on September 16 and October 13.
- The conference agenda covers sitting schedules, witness lists, evidence hours and audio-visual testimony.
- The trial will be heard by Trial Chamber III, presided over by Judge Joanna Korner.
The Charges and the November 30 Trial
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, of murder and attempted murder under Article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute. The charges relate to alleged killings during his administration’s so-called war on drugs, as well as alleged killings linked to the so-called Davao death squad when he was mayor or vice mayor of Davao City. The prosecution’s case covers alleged acts between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019, which it says formed part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population.
The trial is scheduled to open on November 30 at 10 a.m. in The Hague, which is 5 p.m. Manila time. It will be presided over by Judge Joanna Korner, sitting with Judges Keebong Paek and Nicolas Guillou as part of Trial Chamber III. When the trial opens, judges will verify that Duterte understands the charges and ask him to enter a plea, according to reporting on the trial schedule.
The Co-Perpetrator Question
Alongside the waiver, questions remain over the wider cast of the case. Reporting on November 1 noted that Senator Ronald dela Rosa is the only one among eight alleged co-perpetrators publicly confirmed to face an arrest warrant. The ICC has not publicly explained whether arrest warrants have been issued against the seven other officials whom prosecutors identified alongside Duterte and dela Rosa.
Those other officials named in the prosecution’s updated trial brief include Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, former Philippine National Police chiefs Vicente Danao, Oscar Albayalde and the late Camilo Cascolan, former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, former National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran, and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña. The arrest warrant against dela Rosa was issued under seal on November 6, 2025, and unsealed on May 11, 2026. The case also sits alongside other court-centred political disputes in Europe, where tribunals and constitutional questions have drawn close public attention.
What to Watch Next
The next step is the November 2 status conference itself, where Duterte’s lawyers will address the procedural matters on the agenda in his absence. After that, attention turns to the November 30 trial opening in The Hague, when the charges will be put to Duterte and he will be asked to enter a plea. Whether the court clarifies the position of the other alleged co-perpetrators is another question to watch, as is how the sitting schedule and evidence hours agreed at the status conference shape the trial that follows.