The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has opposed a request by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team to impose stricter protocols on digital evidence presented at trial.
ICC ad interim prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang called the proposed requirement for expert reports on all open-source and user-generated evidence unreasonable, unnecessary and inefficient.
Niang said the need for expert verification should instead be determined on a case-by-case basis by the party submitting the evidence.
Duterte’s defense lawyer Peter Haynes had sought an amendment to the e-court protocol requiring an “expert verification” field for digital materials.
Haynes argued that stricter verification is needed because of the large amount of misinformation and fake news circulating online.
Source: PhilNews24 | September 11, 2026
