Case No. IT-04-84-PT

Prosecutor v. Idriz Balaj

DECISION

THE DEPUTY 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, and in particular Rule 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 6, 7, 8 and 11(A) thereof;

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

CONSIDERING that Idriz Balaj ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 9 March 2005 and that on 11 March 2005, acting pursuant to Article 16(F) of the Directive, the Registrar assigned Mr Gregor Guy-Smith, Attorney at law from the United States, as duty counsel to the Accused;

CONSIDERING that on 16 March 2005, the Accused submitted a declaration of means form to the Registry pursuant to Article 7(B) of the Directive, and requested the assignment of Mr Guy-Smith as permanent Tribunal-paid counsel on the basis that he did not have sufficient means to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 18 April 2005, acting pursuant to the Article 11(B) of the Directive, the Deputy Registrar assigned Mr Guy-Smith as counsel to the Accused for a period of 120 days, determining that an interim assignment of counsel was necessary to ensure that the Accused’s right to counsel was not affected while the Registry examined his ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 12 October 2005, the Deputy Registrar extended Mr Guy-Smith’s assignment for an additional period of 120 days, effective as of 16 August 2005;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has examined the information provided by the Accused in his declaration of means and has completed an inquiry into the Accused’s means pursuant to Article 10(A) of the Directive;

CONSIDERING that the Registry is satisfied that the Accused does not have any means available to him to pay for the costs of his defence before the International Tribunal;

DECIDES in light of the above and in accordance with Article 11(A)(i) of the Directive that the Accused is eligible for full legal aid;

DECIDES without prejudice to Article 18 of the Directive and pursuant to Article 11(A)(i) of the Directive to assign Mr Guy-Smith as counsel to the Accused permanently, effective as of the date of this decision;

INFORMS the Accused and his counsel that the expenses relating to the Accused’s defence referred to in Articles 22, 26 and 27 of the Directive shall be borne by the International Tribunal.

 

_____________
John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this twenty-first day of November 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.