Case No. IT-02-60-A

BEFORE THE PRE-APPEAL JUDGE

Before:
Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen, Pre-Appeal Judge

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
15 February 2005

Vidoje BLAGOJEVIC
Dragan JOKIC

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DECISION ON DEFENCE MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME IN WHICH TO FILE THE DEFENCE NOTICE OF APPEAL

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The Office of the Prosecutor:

Mr. Norman Farrell

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Michael Karnavas and Ms. Suzanna Tomanovic for Vidoje Blagojevic
Mr. Miodrag Stojanovic and Mr. Branko Lukic for Dragan Jokic

I, MOHAMED SHAHABUDDEEN, Judge 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 Assigning Judges to a Case Before the Appeals Chamber" filed on 14 February 2005 which, inter alia, designated me to serve as Pre-Appeal Judge in this case;

NOTING that Trial Chamber I rendered its Judgement in this case on 17 January 2005 ("Judgement");

NOTING the "Defence Motion for Extension of Time in which to File the Defence Notice of Appeal" filed by Dragan Jokic on 7 February 2005 ("Defence" and "Motion", respectively);

NOTING the "Prosecution Response to Defence Motion for Extension of Time in which to File Defence Notice of Appeal" filed on 9 February 2005 ("Prosecution" and "Response", respectively);

CONSIDERING that the Defence seeks an extension of time for the filing of his notice of appeal until he receives a translated version of the Judgement, or in the alternative, an extension of time of fourteen days from the date of the oral pronouncement of Judgement, comprising an extension of seven days on the ground that the written Judgement was not received until one week after it was pronounced in court, and an extension of a further seven days due to the length and complexity of the factual and legal issues contained in the Judgement;

CONSIDERING that the Prosecution does not oppose the request for an extension of time of fourteen days, but submits that a further extension of time until the Judgement is translated into B/C/S is not warranted;

CONSIDERING that Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ("Rules") provides that "[ a] party seeking to appeal a judgement shall, not more than thirty days from the date on which the judgement was pronounced, file a notice of appeal, setting forth the grounds" and that the Rule further states that "[ t] he Appeals Chamber may, on good cause being shown by motion, authorise a variation of the grounds of appeal";

CONSIDERING that the Defence, having chosen English as the working language for the case, is able to understand the Judgement, that Defence Counsel are able to discuss with Jokic possible grounds of appeal and to advise him as to potential errors of facts and law contained therein and that the determination of potential grounds of appeal falls primarily within the purview of the Defence;

CONSIDERING further that, after the Judgement becomes available in the B/C/S language, the Defence may seek, pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules, to vary or specify in greater detail the grounds of appeal or to file additional grounds of appeal, and that good cause has not been shown for an extension of time until a translated version of the Judgement is received;

CONSIDERING that, although the Judgement was pronounced on 17 January 2005, the written Judgement was filed on 24 January 2005 and only the summary of the Judgement was available in the intervening period;

CONSIDERING that paragraph 1(c)(iii) of the Practice Direction on Formal Requirements for Appeals from Judgement requires a notice of appeal to identify "the finding or ruling challenged in the judgement, with specific reference to the page number and paragraph number";

CONSIDERING that every Trial Judgement emanating from this Tribunal is possessed of inherent complexity of the factual and legal issues and that therefore good cause has not been shown for the requested extension of a further seven days;

FINDING however that, pursuant to Rule 127 (B) of the Rules, "good cause" has been shown to grant an extension of time of seven days on the ground that the written Judgement was not received until one week after it was pronounced in court;

HEREBY GRANTS the Motion in part and ORDERS the Defence to file its notice of appeal no later than 23 February 2005.

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

Done this 15^th day of February 2005,
At The Hague,
The Netherlands

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Judge Shahabuddeen
Pre-Appeal Judge