Case No. IT-04-79-PT

The Prosecutor v. Mico Stanisic

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 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 6, 8 and 11(B) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (IT/125 REV.1) ("Code of Conduct") and in particular Article 9 thereof;

CONSIDERING that Mico Stanisic (“Accused”) was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 11 March 2005 and that on or about that date, he applied for the assignment of Tribunal-paid counsel on the basis that he did not have sufficient means to remunerate counsel;

NOTING that at on or about 24 March 2005, the Accused requested that the Registry assign Mr Branko Lukic, an attorney from Serbia and Montenegro, as his Tribunal-paid counsel but because Mr Lukic was engaged in two other cases before the Tribunal at that time, the Registry refused to assign him and invited the Accused to select an alternate counsel from the Tribunal’s list of counsel eligible for assignment to indigent suspects and accused ("Rule 45 list");

NOTING that on 5 April 2005, the Accused provided the Registry with a power of attorney in which he authorized Mr Lukic to represent him before the Tribunal in a pro bono capacity;

NOTING that on the basis of the 5 April 2005 power of attorney, Mr Lukic has represented the Accused on a pro bono basis until today’s date;

NOTING that on 9 March 2006, the Registry received a letter from Mr Lukic in which he informed the Registry that he wished to terminate his representation of the Accused;

CONSIDERING that the Accused has indicated that in principle he does not object to Mr Lukic withdrawing and has requested that Mr Lukic be replaced by a counsel assigned and paid under the Tribunal’s legal aid scheme;

CONSIDERING that on 2 May 2006, the Accused informed the Registry that he wished Mr Stevo Bezbradica, a Barrister and Solicitor from Australia, to replace Mr Lukic;

CONSIDERING that Mr Bezbradica is on the Rule 45 list and has indicated his willingness to be assigned as the Accused’s counsel;

CONSIDERING that in accordance with Article 11(B) of the Directive, the Registrar may assign counsel to an accused for a period of 120 days to ensure that an accused’s right to counsel is not affected while the Registry examines his ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that the Registry is conducting an inquiry into the Accused’s ability to remunerate counsel and that the inquiry is not yet complete;

CONSIDERING that in this case it is necessary to assign counsel to the Accused pursuant to Article 11(B) to ensure that his right to counsel is not affected while the Registry completes its inquiry into the Accused’s ability to remunerate counsel;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Mr Bezbradica as counsel to the Accused for a period of 120 days pursuant to Article 11(B) of the Directive, effective as of the date of this decision;

DECIDES that Mr Lukic’s representation of the Accused ceases as of the date of this decision;

DIRECTS Mr Lukic to hand over to Mr Bezbradica any case-related materials he received during his representation of the Accused, in accordance with his duty under Article 9(D) of the Code of Conduct.

Dated this fifth day of May 2006
At The Hague,
The Netherlands

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John Hocking
Deputy Registrar