Case No. IT-95-14 & 14/2-R77

IN TRIAL CHAMBER I

Before:
Judge Daqun Liu, Presiding
Judge Amin El Mahdi
Judge Alphons Orie

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
6 October 2005

PROSECUTOR

v.

JOSIP JOVIC

_____________________________________________

DECISION TO DENY DEFENCE’S MOTION FOR POSTPONEMENT OF THE INITIAL APPEARANCE

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Ms. Carla del Ponte
Mr. David Akerson

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Kresimir Krsnik

Trial Chamber I ("the Chamber") 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");

BEING SEISED of the "Motion of the Accused Josip Jovic for Postponement of the Initial Appearance", filed on 23 September 2005 ("the Accused’s motion");

NOTING the "Order Summoning the Accused to Appear", filed on 9 September 2005, under which the Accused was summoned to appear for an initial appearance on 26 September 2005, ("the Summons");

NOTING that the Accused’s Motion, under which the Accused requested a postponement of the intial appearance, was filed late in the afternoon on 23 September 2005 and the initial appearance was scheduled for 26 September 2005;

CONSIDERING that the Accused has requested a postponement for the following reasons:

1. The Accused believes that, should the Tribunal have issued the Summons in violation of the Croatian Constitution and the Constitutional Act on the Cooperation of the Republic of Croatia with the International Criminal Tribunal,¹ the Tribunal has no jurisdiction over him;² and

2. he requires time to pursue any domestic remedies which might be available to him in order to determine whether such a violation has occurred;³

CONSIDERING that under Rule 73(A) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ("the Rules"), either party may at any time bring a motion before the Trial Chamber for an appropriate ruling or relief;

CONSIDERING that the Accused’s Motion does not show good cause for its request for postponement as:

1. The Accused’s Motion does not allege that the Croatian government has argued that the Summons is in violation of the Croatian Constitution and the Constitutional Act on the Cooperation of the Republic of Croatia with the International Criminal Tribunal;⁴

2. The Accused’s Motion does not provide an explanation for his argument that the Summons is in violation of the Croatian Constitution and the Constitutional Act on the Cooperation of the Republic of Croatia with the International Criminal Tribunal;⁵

3. The Accused has not provided an explanation for his argument that the competent forum for hearing the matter is Croatia’s domestic courts, as opposed to the International Criminal Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that the Registry of the Tribunal informed the Accused’s Counsel, Mr. Kresimir Krsnik, telephonically, on 23 September 2005, that the Accused’s Motion had been denied;

FOR THE FOREGOING REASONS

PURSUANT to Rule 73(A) of the Rules

REJECTS the Accused’s motion

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

Dated this sixth day of October 2005.
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.

_____________________
Judge Daqun Liu, Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber I

[Seal of the Tribunal]