Case No. IT-02-64-PT

Prosecutor v. Ljubomir Borovcanin

DECISION

THE REGISTRAR,

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

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

NOTING the Directive on Assignment of Defence Counsel as adopted by the Tribunal on 28 July 1994, as subsequently amended ("Directive"), and in particular Articles 11(B), 14 and 16(C) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that Ljubomir Borovcanin ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 1 April 2005;

CONSIDERING that the Accused has applied for Tribunal legal aid pursuant to Article 8 of the Directive on the basis that he does not have means to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has not yet determined whether or to what extent the Accused is able to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 9 May 2005, to ensure that the Accused’s right to counsel is protected while the Registry determines whether he is able to remunerate counsel, the Deputy Registrar assigned Mr Alan Newman, a Queen’s Counsel from the United Kingdom, as lead counsel to the Accused for a period of 120 days pursuant to Article 11(B) of the Directive;

CONSIDERING that on 10 May 2005, Mr Newman requested the assignment of Mr Miodrag Stojanovic, attorney at law from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as his co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr Stojanovic is on the Tribunal’s list of counsel eligible for assignment to indigent suspects and accused but because of his inability to speak a working language of the Tribunal, he is eligible for assignment as co-counsel only;

CONSIDERING that Mr Stojanovic previously represented Dragan Jokic before the Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that whilst Mr Jokic and the Accused are charged with crimes relating to the same transaction, the Registry is of the view that the possibility of a conflict of interest arising between Mr Stojanovic’s former representation of Mr Jokic and his representation of the Accused is remote and that as such, it does not disqualify him from acting as co-counsel in the Accused’s case;

CONSIDERING that both Mr Jokic and the Accused have consented in writing to Mr Stojanovic acting as co-counsel in the Accused’s case;

CONSIDERING that pursuant to Article 16(C)(ii) of the Directive, the Registrar may assign a co-counsel who does not speak either of the two working languages of the Tribunal but who speaks the native language of the accused if it is in the interests of justice in a particular case;

CONSIDERING that, having reviewed the submissions of Mr Newman, Mr Stojanovic and the Accused, the Registry is of the view that in the Accused’s case it is in the interests of justice to assign Mr Stojanovic as co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr Stojanovic has indicated his willingness to be assigned as co-counsel;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Mr Stojanovic as co-counsel to Mr Newman, effective as of the date of this decision.

_______________
Hans Holthuis
Registrar

Dated this thirtieth day of May 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.