People gather to protest in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ahead of the ruling on the appeal by the defence of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague, the Netherlands, 22 April 2026. The activists are requesting the ICC to confirm its jurisdiction over the Duterte case and, by return of mail, the charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte. The 80-year-old Rodrigo Duterte was not present at the court, reportedly because his health was too poor. EPA/SEM VAN DER WAL Duterte, who was not in court when the decision was read out, has been held in detention at the ICC in The Hague since his arrest in March 2025.
The Philippines formally withdrew its ICC membership in 2018, and Duterte's defence had argued that meant the court had no jurisdiction over the case.
But the appeals judges confirmed a lower court ruling that the case could continue and rejected the defence's demands to immediately release the 81-year-old.
They ruled that the fact that a preliminary examination - a precursor to a formal investigation - had already started before the Philippines withdrew its membership was enough to trigger continuing jurisdiction over the alleged crimes.
Prosecutors say Duterte created, funded and armed death squads to target and kill alleged narcotics peddlers and users when he was in power between 2016 and 2022.
Duterte has long insisted he instructed police to kill only in self-defence and has always defended the crackdown.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Andrew Heavens)