PARIS — Kenya’s president can be absent from parts of his trial on charges of crimes against humanity to fulfill his duties at home, but he will have to be present for a number of important hearings at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the court announced Friday.

The judges rejected President Uhuru Kenyatta’s request to participate in the trial by video link.

The decision to permit Mr. Kenyatta to skip many long hours of proceedings removes the argument that the trial will seriously impede his ability to function as president. But it is not likely to satisfy Mr. Kenyatta, who has said he wants his trial annulled or, at the very least, postponed by the United Nations Security Council.

The judges decided that he must be present for the entirety of the opening of his trial, a politically awkward episode during which the prosecution will lay out its case and present the details of the criminal charges against him. They said Mr. Kenyatta must also be present during the start of the defense case, during hearings at which victims present their views and concerns, during the delivery of the judgment and at any other session ordered by the judges.