Case No. IT-01-48-T

IN TRIAL CHAMBER I, SECTION A

Before:
Judge Liu Daqun, Presiding
Judge Amin El Mahdi
Judge György Szénási

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
16 February 2005

PROSECUTOR

v.

SEFER HALILOVIC

____________________________________

DECISION TO VARY THE DECISION ON DEFENCE OBJECTION TO PROSECUTION CONTINUED DISCLOSURE

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Ms. Sureta Chana
Mr. Philip Weiner
Mr. David Re

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Peter Morrissey
Mr. Guénaël Mettraux

TRIAL CHAMBER I, SECTION A, ("Trial 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 ("Tribunal"),

NOTING the "Decision on Defence Objection to Prosecution Continued Disclosure" issued by Trial Chamber III on 7 May 2004 ("Decision of 7 May 2004");

NOTING that this case was transferred from Trial Chamber III to Trial Chamber I on 17 January 2005,¹

NOTING that the Decision of 7 May 2004 sets out restrictions on disclosure of evidence, which include that the Prosecution is required to seek leave of the Pre-Trial Judge before being allowed to disclose material pursuant to Rule 68 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ("Rules");

CONSIDERING that pursuant to Articles 20 (1) and 21 (4) (b) of the Statute of the International Tribunal ("Statute") the accused is entitled to a fair and expeditious trial and to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence;

CONSIDERING that Rule 68 of the Rules provides for a continuous obligation of the Prosecution to disclose "any material which in the actual knowledge of the Prosecutor may suggest the innocence or mitigate the guilt of the accused or affect the credibility of Prosecution evidence;"

CONSIDERING that it is in the interest of the Accused to receive all material that falls within the ambit of Rule 68 as soon as practicable;

CONSIDERING therefore that the restriction to the disclosure of material that falls within the ambit of Rule 68 as imposed by the Decision of 7 May 2004 could, at this point in the proceedings, conflict with the right of the Accused to a fair and expeditious trial;

CONSIDERING that the Defence, in order to adequately prepare its case, may request additional time to examine material disclosed pursuant to Rule 68 subsequent to this decision;

PURSUANT TO Rules 54 and 68 of the Rules,

HEREBY DECIDES that the Prosecution need not request leave of the Trial Chamber to discharge its obligation for disclosure pursuant to Rule 68 of the Rules;

REMINDS the Parties that the Decision of 7 May 2004 remains in effect insofar as it concerns disclosure pursuant to Rule 66 (A)(ii) of the Rules.

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

_________________
Judge Liu Daqun
Presiding

Dated this sixteenth day of February 2005,
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.