ICC: Experts ready to assess Rody’s health

With his medical condition in question, pretrial judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) may tap qualified experts to conduct an independent assessment on former president Rodrigo Duterte’s fitness to participate in court proceedings.

- By JANVIC MATEO

The ICC Registry, which is in charge of administration and operations of the court, formally informed the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 that the medical officer of the tribunal’s detention facility “does not possess the requisite expertise of judicial knowledge to provide such an assessment regarding a detained person’s fitness to stand trial.”

Following the defense’s claim that Duterte is unfit to stand trial, the pretrial chamber directed the ICC Detention Center’s medical officer to submit a report on the former president's medical condition.

The Registry, however, told judges that the medical officer’s mandate is only limited to the oversight of the physical and mental health of the detained persons.

While the medical officer can provide limited observations on the health of a detainee, matters related to “long-term adjustments to hearing arrangements” and other issues already fall outside its mandate, the Registry said.

But it said that the Registry maintains a roster of qualified experts who may provide services to the court.

“The Registry stands ready to provide the Chamber with a shortlisted curriculum vitae of suitable experts from this list in line with the Chamber’s requirements, for its consideration, should the Chamber so decide,” it added.

Duterte’s defense team has moved to adjourn the trial on the basis of supposed cognitive decline of the former president.

The prosecution has disputed this claim and pushed for the resumption of the proceedings.

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