Case No. IT-95-13/1-PT

IN TRIAL CHAMBER II

Before:
Judge Wolfgang Schomburg, Presiding
Judge Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba
Judge Carmel Agius

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
1 August 2003

PROSECUTOR

v.

MILE MRKSIC
MIROSLAV RADIC
VESELIN SLJIVANCANIN

______________________________

DECISION TO POSTPONE THE DEADLINE ESTABLISHED IN THE SCHEDULING ORDER FOR FILINGS

______________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Mr. Jan Wubben
Mr. Mark J. McKeon

Counsel for the Accused Mile Mrksic:

Mr. Miroslav Vasic

Counsel for the Accused Miroslav Radic:

Mr. Borivoje Borovic
Ms. Mira Tapuskovic

The Accused Veselin Sljivancanin

TRIAL CHAMBER II ("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 ("Tribunal"):

BEING SEISED OF the "Request for an extension of time for the submission of an objection to the indictment and the material received from the Prosecution" ("Motion for Extension of Time"), filed by the Accused Veselin Sljivancanin (“Sljivancanin”) on 28 July 2003:

NOTING that, in the Motion for Extension of Time, Sljivancanin requests “[t]hat the status period for entering a plea be postponed and that it begin when the attorney whom [he] has selected receives authorisation to act as [his] defence counsel”;

CONSIDERING that Sljivancanin entered a plea of not guilty on each count of the Amended Indictment against him during his Initial Appearance on 10 July 2003;

NOTING the "Prosecution’s Motion for Leave to File a Consolidated Amended Indictment" (Prosecution’s Motion for Leave"), filed by the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecution") on 21 July 2003, wherein the Prosecution seeks leave to file a Consolidated Amended Indictment ("Consolidated Indictment") against the Accused Mile Mrksic (“Mrksic”), Miroslav Radic (“Radic”) and Sljivancanin, which includes new charges against Radic and Sljivancanin

CONSIDERING however that, pursuant to Rule 50(A)(i)(c) and (B) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ("Rules"), an accused is required to enter a plea on any new charges against him included in an amended indictment only after the Trial Chamber to which his or her case has been assigned to has granted the Prosecutor leave to amend it;

CONSIDERING that the Trial Chamber understands Sljivancanin to also be requesting a postponement of the deadline established in the Trial Chamber’s "Scheduling Order for Filings" ("Scheduling Order"), filed on 25 July 2003, wherein the Trial Chamber ordered that Mrksic, Radic and Sljivancanin “respectively file a single document containing any response to the [Prosecution’s Motion for Leave] pursuant to Rule 50(A)(i)(c) and/or any preliminary motion pursuant to Rule 72 alleging defects on the form of the proposed Consolidated Indictment by no later than 12.00 on 25 August 2003";

CONSIDERING that Sljivancanin requests a postponement of the deadline established in the Scheduling Order until such time as “the attorney whom [he] has selected receives authorisation to act as [his] defence counsel”;

NOTING the decision by the Registrar, set out in a letter addressed to Sljivancanin and filed on 10 July 2003, refusing Sljivancanin’s request to have Mr. Goran Petronijevic and Mr. Momcilo Bulatovic appointed as his defence counsel;

NOTING further the “Appeal regarding choice of legal representation”, filed by Sljivancanin on 14 July 2003, addressed to the President of the Tribunal and currently pending before him;

CONSIDERING that it is in the interests of a fair trial to postpone the deadline established in the Scheduling Order as it applies to Sljivancanin until such time as any defence counsel is appointed or assigned to him;

NOTING the "Prosecution’s Response to Request for Extension of Time to Enter Plea and Submission of Objections to the Indictment", filed on 31 July 2003, in which the Prosecution does not object to Sljivancanin’s request for a postponement of the deadline established in the Scheduling Order, and further requests that a postponement of the same length of time be granted to Mrksic and Radic, so as to eliminate the need of multiple responses by the Prosecution;

CONSIDERING that the course of action proposed by the Prosecution is in the interests of judicial economy and does not unfairly prejudice any of the three Accused;

CONSIDERING however that, since the Trial Chamber has not received submissions from Mrksic or Radic on the convenience or otherwise of this course of action, the present decision is without prejudice to the arguments, if any, that Mrksic or Radic may wish to submit on this point;

FOR THE FOREGOING REASONS

PURSUANT TO Articles 20 and 21 of the Statute of the Tribunal and Rules 54 and 127 of the Rules;

HEREBY DECIDES TO postpone the deadline established in the Scheduling Order as it applies to Mrksic, Radic and Sljivancanin until such time as defence counsel is appointed or assigned to Sljivancanin, whereupon all three Accused will have 30 days from that date to file a single document containing any response to the Prosecution’s Motion for Leave pursuant to Rule 50(A)(i)(c) and/or any preliminary motion pursuant to Rule 72 alleging defects on the form of the proposed Consolidated Indictment.

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

Dated this first day of August 2003,
At The Hague
The Netherlands

_____________
Wolfgang Schomburg
Presiding Judge

[Seal of the Tribunal]