Case No. IT-03-67-PT

Prosecutor v. Vojislav Seselj

DECISION

THE REGISTRAR,

CONSIDERING the Statute of the Tribunal as adopted by the Security Council under Resolution 827 (1993), and in particular Article 21(4)(d) thereof;

CONSIDERING the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (hereinafter "the Rules") as adopted by the Tribunal on 11 February 1994, as subsequently amended, and in particular Rules 44 and 45 thereof;

CONSIDERING the Directive on Assignment of Defence Counsel (hereinafter "the Directive"), as adopted by the Tribunal on 28 July 1994, and as subsequently amended;

CONSIDERING that Vojislav Seselj (hereinafter "the accused") surrendered himself to the International Tribunal on 24 February 2003 and that his initial appearance was held on 26 February 2003:

CONSIDERING that the Accused stated his intention to defend himself in a letter addressed to the Registry on 25 February 2003;

NOTING that Article 21(4)(d) of the Statute states that an accused has the right to be assigned legal assistance in any case where the interests of justice so require;

CONSIDERING the Trial Chamber’s Decision on Prosecutor’s Motion for Order Appointing Counsel to Assist Vojislav Šešelj with his Defence issued on 9 May 2003, in which the Trial Chamber decided that standby counsel shall be assigned to the Accused in this case;

NOTING that, as the Trial Chamber indicated, the "Accused’s right to defend himself is left absolutely untouched and that standby counsel is not an amicus curiae but an assistant operating in the sphere of the Accused only, who will serve to safeguard a fair and expeditious trial";

NOTING that standby counsel will be bound by the same obligations as counsel appearing before the Tribunal, and in particular, by the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing before the International Tribunal (IT/125 Rev.1) and the Directive;

NOTING that counsel-client privilege will apply to any correspondence and communication between the Accused and standby counsel;

NOTING that the Accused was provided with the opportunity to nominate a standby counsel from the Rule 45 list but informed the Registry that he did not wish to do so;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Aleksandar Lazarević, attorney at law from Belgrade, has informed the Registry that he consents to representing the accused as standby counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Lazarević meets the requirements of the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be considered for assignment of counsel, and that there are no conflicts of interest;

CONSIDERING that the appointment of standby counsel does not exclude the right of the Accused to obtain legal advice from counsel of his own choice fulfilling the requirements of Rule 44(A);

DECIDES to assign Mr. Aleksandar Lazarević as standby counsel to the accused, effective as of the date of this decision.

 

__________
Hans Holthuis
Registrar

Dated this fifth day of September 2003
At The Hague
The Netherland