THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has denied a request by former president Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyers to appeal a previous ruling on the disclosure of evidence. Duterte’s defense team also filed a separate urgent petition seeking his interim release due to deteriorating health. In a decision made public Sunday, Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected the defense’s “Request for Leave to Appeal,” which sought to challenge a Dec. 11, 2025 ruling that denied access to communications between the Court’s Registry and an independent panel of medical experts. The panel had been appointed to conduct a medical examination of Duterte under ICC procedures. The defense had argued that the Chamber erred in not assessing the “materiality” of the withheld communications to case preparation or potential risks to the investigation. In its ruling, the Chamber, composed of Presiding Judge Iulia Antonnella Motoc, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera, stated the petition did not meet the strict legal criteria for an interlocutory appeal under the Rome Statute. It said the request largely sought to re-argue points already addressed and misconstrued the prior findings. “The defense already has sufficient information for its purposes, as the experts’ reports consistently reference the Chamber’s instructions and the relevant guiding materials,” the Chamber said. In their petition requesting Duterte’s interim release from ICC detention, his lawyers cited severe physical and cognitive decline. They described Duterte, held at the ICC Detention Center since March 2025, as an “emaciated, infirm and incapacitated shadow of his former self.” The filing contends that Duterte’s worsened condition constitutes a “changed circumstance” justifying a review of his detention, and argues that prosecution objections to additional expert reports are insufficient given the new evidence. The defense claims that his impaired executive functioning and physical frailty make him incapable of fleeing, intimidating witnesses, or continuing to commit crimes. The petition also points out apparent contradictions in medical assessments: while a defense-hired neurologist diagnosed a specific cognitive disorder, the court-appointed psychiatrist found no objective evidence. The defense asserts that such a conflict warrants further forensic examination and application of the legal principle in dubio pro reo (when in doubt, favor the accused). A state party, whose name remains redacted, has expressed willingness to receive Duterte and implement any conditions of release. The defense has requested a public hearing to allow the Chamber to personally assess Duterte, noting he has not appeared in court for ten months despite repeated requests. The ICC prosecutor’s investigation focuses on Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity linked to the anti-drug campaign waged during his presidency. The court is expected to consider both the health-based release petition and the broader legal questions raised by the defense in the coming weeks.