Case No. IT-03-69-PT

Prosecutor v. Franko Simatovic

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 the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal ("the Code") as subsequently amended and in particular Article 9 (B) thereof;

CONSIDERING that on 30 May 2003 Mr. Franko Simatovic (hereinafter "the accused") was transferred to the custody of the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that the initial appearance of the accused was scheduled for 2 June 2003, and that it was necessary for the Registry to secure representation for the accused;

CONSIDERING the decision of the Registrar dated 2 June 2003 temporarily assigning Ms. Neda Gajovic as counsel in order to secure the rights of the accused during his initial appearance;

CONSIDERING further that the accused had not submitted his declaration of means at that stage, which is a prerequisite for the assignment of counsel, that Ms. Gajovic 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 Ms. Gajovic complied with the necessary requirements to be assigned as counsel before the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that in accordance with Article 11 (C)(i) 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 assigned Ms. Gajovic on a temporary basis for the purpose of representing the accused during the initial appearance;

CONSIDERING HOWEVER that Ms. Gajovic has failed to provide the Registry with additional information specifying that she possesses the reasonable experience in criminal and/or international law as required by the Rules,;

CONSIDERING that on 14 July 2003, the accused requested in writing to have Mr. Zoran Jovanovic, attorney at law from Belgrade, assigned as lead counsel for the accused;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Jovanovic is currently assigned co-counsel in The Prosecutor v Mladen Radic, and is assigned legal assistant in The Prosecutor v Sainovic;

CONSIDERING that proceedings in The Prosecutor v Mladen Radic have terminated and parties are now awaiting judgement from the Appeal Chamber;

CONSIDERING that on 15 July, Mr. Toma Fila, lead counsel in The Prosecutor v. Nikola Sainovic the The Prosecutor v Mladen Radic indicated in writing that he consents to the withdrawal of Mr. Jovanovic from the above cases in order to be re-assigned as counsel to the accused and that on 18 July 2003, Mr. Fila, further satisfied the Registrar, in writing, that the withdrawal of Mr. Jovanovic from the above cases, can be accomplished without material adverse effect on the interests of Mr. Sainovic and Mr. Mladen Radic;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Jovanovic is currently on the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be considered for an assignment as counsel, is a member of the Association of Defence Counsel, and that the Registry has verified that no conflicts of interests are likely to arise as a result of his assignment on the basis of Article 11 (B) of the Directive;

CONSIDERING that the accused has committed to submit his declaration of means on 21 July 2003;

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 and 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;

DECIDES to withdraw the temporary assignment of Ms. Gajovic as counsel to the accused and assign Mr. Jovanovic, as lead counsel to the accused for a period of 120 days, effective as of 21 July 2003, subject to the accused submitting his declaration of means on that date.

 

Hans Holthuis
Registrar

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