Case No. IT-03-69 -PT

The Prosecutor v. Stanisic

DECISION

THE REGISTRAR,

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

CONSIDERING the Rules of Procedure and Evidence 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 subsequently amended and in particular, Articles 6, 8, 10 and 11 (B) thereof;

CONSIDERING that on 11 June 2003, Mr. Jovica Stanisic (hereinafter "the accused") was transferred to the custody of the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that on 12 June 2003 the accused requested to the Registry to have Mr. Vladan Vuckevic, attorney at law from Belgrade, assigned to him as counsel;

CONSIDERING that the initial appearance for the accused was scheduled for 13 June 2003, and that it was necessary for the Registry to secure representation for the accused;

CONISIDERING further that the accused had not submitted his declaration of means at that stage, which is a prerequisite for the assignment of counsel, that Mr. Vladan Vuckevic was not listed on the Rule 45 list of counsel, who are eligible to be assigned to indigent accused, and that it was necessary for the Registry to verify whether Mr. Vladan Vukcevic complied with the necessary requirements to be assigned as counsel before the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that in accordance with Article 11(C) of the Directive, if the aforementioned requirements have not been met at the time that the request is made, the Registrar may nonetheless assign counsel in the interests of justice;

CONSIDERING that the Registrar subsequently verified that Mr. Vladan Vuckevic does not speak one of the working languages of the International Tribunal, which in accordance with Rule 44(A) of the Rules is a pre-requisite to be assigned as counsel;

CONSIDERING further that Rule 44 (B) of the Rules provides that if it is in the interests of justice to do so, the Registrar may admit a counsel who does not speak one of the working languages but speaks the language of the accused, and that the Registrar may impose such conditions as deemed appropriate;

CONSIDERING that it is the responsibility of the accused and the applicant counsel to satisfy the Registry that it would be in the interests of justice to grant a waiver in the circumstances of their particular case;

CONSIDERING that it is the experience of the Registry that assigning counsel who do not speak one of the working languages can result in significant delays and adjournments being occasioned during the proceedings and can thus impact upon the right of the accused to an expeditious trial;

CONSIDERING therefore that past precedent in other cases does not in itself constitute a valid justification to grant a waiver to the language requirement in this particular instance;

NOTING the Memorandum of the Deputy Registrar dated 21 June 1996, which submitted the original text of Rule 44(B) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence to the Judges for adoption in plenary, and stipulated in the accompanying commentary to the Rule that it would be in the interests of justice to issue waivers only in exceptional circumstances, for instance, if the counsel had previously represented the accused before a national court in relation to the same charges;

CONSIDERING that the Registry informed Mr. Vladan Vukcevic on 12 June 2003 of the operation of Rule 44 (A) and Rule 44 (B) and suggested that the Registry might consider waiving the language requirement in the interests of justice if Mr. Vladan Vukcevic nominates a co-counsel for assignment who speaks one of the working languages of the Tribunal, is familiar with criminal procedure and would be able to take over the case if required, and additionally, that Mr. Vladan Vukcevic agrees to bear all expenses relating to translation and interpretation incurred in the course of representing the accused during all stages of the proceedings at the International Tribunal, apart from those services that are usually provided by the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING FURTHER that on 18 June 2003 Mr. Vladan Vuckevic informed the Registry that he previously represented the accused before a national court in relation to the case pending before the Tribunal, prior to the transfer of the accused to The Hague;

CONSIDERING that on 16 June 2003, Mr. Vladan Vuckevic submitted a request that Mr. Slobodan Vuckevic, attorney at law from Belgrade, who is currently on the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be assigned to indigent accused, and who speaks English and the language of the accused, be assigned as co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 4 July 2003, Mr. Vladan Vukcevic submitted a declaration that he agrees to bear all expenses relating to translation and interpretation incurred in the course of representing the accused during all stages of the proceedings at the International Tribunal, apart from those services that are usually provided by the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that the accused has committed to submitting his declaration of means within 10 days of the date of this decision;

CONSIDERING that for the purpose of establishing whether the accused satisfies the requisite conditions for assignment of counsel, the Registrar may inquire into his means, request the gathering of any information or the production of any documents to verify the request;

CONSIDERING that Article 11(B) of the Directive provides that in order to ensure that the right to counsel is not affected while the Registrar examines the declaration of means laid down in Article 7 (B) and (C) and the information obtained pursuant to Article 10, the Registrar may temporarily assign counsel to a suspect or an accused for a period not exceeding 120 days.

CONSIDERING that Mr. Vladan Vukcevic has satisfied the Registry that his assignment is in the interests of justice and will not occasion any additional delays or costs as a result of the fact that he does not speak one of the working languages of the International Tribunal;

HEREBY DECIDES on the basis of Article 11 (B) of the Directive and Rule 44 (B) of the Rules to assign Mr. Vladan Vukcevic, attorney at law from Belgrade, as lead counsel to the accused for a period of 120 days, effective as of the date of this decision, and on the following conditions:

Hans Holthuis
Registrar

Dated this eighteenth day of July 2003
At The Hague
The Netherlands