THE legal counsel for former president Rodrigo Duterte has rejected a confidential request by the prosecution before the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it an insinuation of professional misconduct.
In a public filing dated March 26, 2026, defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman responded to a confidential prosecution request submitted March 5, disputing suggestions that the defense may have violated Article 8 of the Code of Professional Conduct.
“Since spring is in the air and Counsel is feeling remarkably benevolent, he will not take offence at the unnecessary nature of the Request and its implied suggestion ... that he might be violating Article 8,” Kaufman wrote, dismissing the prosecution’s concerns.
The filing, submitted to Pre-Trial Chamber I presided over by Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, addressed several redacted issues, including conditions and restrictions involving the defense team and Duterte.
Kaufman also took aim at what he described as the prosecution’s “unabated passion for scrutinizing the media coverage” of the case, advising its senior trial lawyer to “not believe everything he reads in the papers” — unless it concerns Duterte’s innocence.
Central to the prosecution’s request was what the defense described as a “peculiar” inquiry into the roles of certain individuals whose identities remain redacted and their possible access to confidential information.
In response, Kaufman issued formal assurances to the chamber, stating these individuals have neither received nor will receive official disclosures related to the case, have no access to nonpublic filings, and are not permitted to participate in privileged communications or meetings with Duterte at the ICC detention facility.
He maintained that the prosecution’s request carried an “implied suggestion” of misconduct, which the defense firmly rejected.
Duterte faces charges before the ICC over alleged crimes linked to his administration’s anti-drug campaign. He is currently in custody at the court’s detention center in The Hague pending further proceedings.