Case No. IT-95-17-I

Prosecutor v. Miroslav Bralo

DECISION

THE DEPUTY 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 ("Rules"), and in particular Rules 44, 45 and 62(B) thereof;

CONSIDERING the Directive on Assignment of Defence Counsel as adopted by the Tribunal on 28 July 1994, as subsequently amended ("Directive"), and in particular Articles 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11(B) thereof;

CONSIDERING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (IT/125 REV.1);

NOTING that Mr. Miroslav Bralo ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 12 November 2004, and that his initial appearance took place on 15 November 2004;

CONSIDERING that at the initial appearance the Accused indicated his intention to enter a plea within 30 days;

CONSIDERING that, upon his arrival, the Accused requested the Registry to appoint Mr. Bozidar Kovacic, attorney at law from Zagreb, under Rule 44 of the Rules;

CONSIDERING, however, that the Registry had strong indications that Mr. Kovacic would have a conflict of interest to appear in this case because of his work as counsel in other cases pending before the Tribunal, and therefore, did not appoint Mr. Kovačić for the initial appearance of the Accused;

NOTING the Deputy Registrar’s Decision of 15 November 2004 by which Ms. Virginia Lindsay, attorney at law from San Francisco, was assigned as counsel for the Accused for the purpose of the initial appearance;

CONSIDERING that in its letter of 22 November 2004, the Registry determined that there is a potential conflict of interest for Mr. Kovacic to represent the Accused, as Mr. Kovacic is currently representing Mario Cerkez and Slobodan Praljak;

CONSIDERING that the Accused requested the assignment of counsel and the provision of legal aid paid for by the Tribunal and that the Registry received the Accused’s Declaration of Means on 29 November 2004;

NOTING that on 25 November 2004, the Accused informed the Registry that he did not intend to appeal the Registry’s determination regarding the conflict of interest and requested that Ms. Lindsay be assigned to him;

NOTING that Ms. Lindsay is currently assigned as lead counsel in Prosecutor v. Momir Nikolic, which is presently on appeal;

CONSIDERING that on 1 December 2004, both Mr. Nikolic and the Accused signed waivers stating that they do not object to Ms. Lindsay’s dual representation;

CONSIDERING that the Registry is satisfied that no conflict of interest exists between Ms. Lindsay’s assignment in Prosecutor v. Momir Nikolic and the present assignment;

NOTING that Ms. Lindsay is a member of the Association of Defence Counsel and is currently on the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be considered for assignment of counsel;

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;

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;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Ms. Virginia Lindsay as counsel to the Accused, for a period of 120 days, effective as of the date of this decision.

 

___________
John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this seventh day of December 2004
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.