IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER

Before:
Judge Richard May, Presiding
Judge Mohamed Bennouna
Judge Patrick Robinson

Registrar:
Mrs. Dorothee de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh

Order of:
27 January 2000

PROSECUTOR

v.

DARIO KORDIC
MARIO CERKEZ

___________________________________________________________________

ORDER ON APPLICATION OF THE DEFENCE TO MODIFY
THE ORDER OF THE TRIAL CHAMBER FOR THE
PROTECTION OF VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

___________________________________________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor

Mr. Geoffrey Nice
Ms. Susan Somers
Mr. Patrick Lopez-Terres
Mr. Kenneth Scott

Defence Counsel

Mr. Mitko Naumovski, Mr. Leo Andreis, Mr. David F. Geneson, Mr. Turner T. Smith, Jr., and Ms. Ksenija Turkovic, for Dario Kordic
Mr. Bozidar Kovacic and Mr. Goran Mikulicic, for Mario Cerkez

 

THIS TRIAL CHAMBER of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("International Tribunal"),

NOTING the "Order for Measures to Protect Victims and Witnesses" issued by the Trial Chamber on 15 January 1999 for the protection of victims and witnesses connected with these proceedings ("the Order"),

BEING SEISED of an application by the Defence for Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez (“the Defence”) for revision and modification of the Order (“the Application”),

HAVING HEARD the parties in closed session on 26 November 1999,

NOTING that the Defence seek amendments to paragraphs 7, 10 and 12 of the Order, as follows:

  1. with respect to paragraph 7, specific references to the Kordic Defence and the Cerkez Defence clarifying reciprocal obligations of non-disclosure upon the Office of the Prosecutor (“OTP”) be inserted;
  2. with respect to paragraph 10 (proposed to replace entirely paragraph 10 in the Order), "associates of the Prosecution, and any persons or organizations assisting or supporting the Prosecution" shall not contact any witness or potential witness identified to the OTP by the Defence or whose unredacted statement or testimony has been disclosed to the OTP by the Defence in connection with this case; and
  3. with respect to paragraph 12 (a proposed new paragraph), the OTP may only contact such persons referred to in proposed paragraph 10 on reasonable prior written notice to the Defence.

NOTING the Prosecution arguments in response to the Application that:

  1. the initial order is adequate for both parties, and a modified order is therefore unnecessary; and
  2. the reference in paragraph 10 to "associates of the Prosecution, and any persons or organizations assisting or supporting the Prosecution" is objectionable because
      (i) the OTP is a law enforcement body mandated to investigate these matters and therefore required to have extensive contact with a number of governments and other outside agencies, and

    (ii) were such wording inserted into an order, it may mean that the OTP would not be able to have appropriate contacts with, or ask for the assistance of, for example, law enforcement authorities in Bosnia to contact witnesses or to assist in the location of particular evidence.

CONSIDERING that the Trial Chamber agrees with the arguments of the OTP that the proposed modifications might have the effect of adversely affecting the capability of the OTP to carry out its mandate, and that the Order is adequate to protect the interests of witnesses or potential witnesses of the Defence,

CONSIDERING HOWEVER that the proposed modifications to paragraph 7 of the Order serve to clarify the reciprocal obligations of non-disclosure upon the OTP and the Defence,

PURSUANT TO Rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Tribunal,

HEREBY GRANTS the Application with respect to proposed modifications to paragraph 7, which will now be as follows1:

  1. save as is directly and specifically necessary for the preparation and presentation of this case, the Prosecutor, the Kordic Defence and the Cerkez Defence shall not disclose to the public: (a) the names, identifying information or whereabouts of any witness or potential witness identified to the Kordic Defence and the Cerkez Defence by the Prosecutor, or identified to the Prosecutor by the Kordic Defence and the Cerkez Defence until such time as the witness testifies publicly in open session; (b) any evidence (including documentary, physical and other evidence) or any written statement of a witness or potential witness, or the substance, in whole or part, of any such evidence or statement that has not already been made public, except in the course of public trial and other public proceedings before the International Tribunal (where not protected by further, specific protective measures); (c) the non-public or otherwise protected testimony of a witness or potential witness identified or listed by the Prosecutor, or by the Kordic Defence and the Cerkez Defence, or of a person whose written statement(s) has been disclosed by the Prosecutor, or by the Kordic Defence and the Cerkez Defence, except that a person may review his or her own written statement(s) and testimony (and such documentary, physical or similar evidence which is directly related to or included in his or her statement or testimony); and to the extent reasonably necessary to his or her work, an expert witness may review the statements and testimony of other persons, as well as other evidence;

AND HEREBY DENIES the remainder of the Application.

 

Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative.

___________________________
Richard May
Presiding

Dated this twenty-seventh day of January 2000
At The Hague
The Netherlands

[Seal of the Tribunal]


1. Modifications to the Order are shown in bold.