On February 12, 2016, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court reversed [3] an earlier decision [4] in the Ruto and Sang cases that had granted admission of prior recorded testimony pursuant to amended rule 68 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE) [5]. According to the press release [6], the rule was adopted by the state parties to the Rome Statute in November 2013, while the trial of Ruto and Sang started on September 10, 2013.  Noting that the rule had therefore been applied retroactively, the Appeals Chamber found “that the application of the amended rule resulted in (i) additional exceptions to the principle of orality and restrictions on the right to cross-examine witnesses, and (ii) as a consequence, the admission of evidence, not previously admissible in that form under former rule 68.” The Appeals Chamber further noted that “the Trial Chamber committed legal errors in interpreting the notion of detriment too narrowly, in finding that the rule had not been applied retroactively and in finding that this had not been detrimental to the accused.” In conclusion, it considered that “these disadvantages . . . negatively affected the overall position of Mr Sang and Mr Ruto in the proceedings at hand.”