MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the second status conference in his crimes against humanity case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on June 23, 2026, after waiving his right to be present.
In a filing dated June 19, 2026, the Duterte defense team notified Trial Chamber III that the 81-year-old former leader wished to skip the procedural hearing and attached a signed written waiver. On the same day, Presiding Judge Joanna Korner and judges Keebong Paek and Nicolas Guillou granted the request and directed the defense to place the waiver on the court record.
According to the one-page waiver, Duterte instructed his lawyers to address all procedural matters on the status conference agenda, "as well as any other matters that may be discussed during the hearing."
The two-hour hearing, scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon in The Hague (4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Manila time), will tackle a five-point procedural agenda set by the Chamber on June 18.
Issues to be discussed include deadlines for observations on expert panel reports, adoption of a protocol on handling confidential information, page limits for the prosecution's trial brief, scheduling of future status conferences after the judicial recess, and public statements made by counsel.
While the hearing will be public, the Chamber may shift to private sessions if discussions involve sensitive witness protection or security matters.
This marks the second consecutive status conference Duterte has skipped. He was also permitted to waive his appearance at the first procedural hearing on May 27, 2026. Under ICC rules, the mandatory obligation for an accused to be physically present applies only to the trial itself, not to status conferences, which are "essentially administrative in nature."
Duterte's trial proper is scheduled to begin on November 30, 2026. He faces three counts of crimes against humanity of murder for killings allegedly committed during his anti-drugs campaign as Davao City mayor and later as president, spanning from 2013 to 2018.
