Case No. IT-03-70-PT

Prosecutor v. Nebojsa Pavkovic

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 ("Rules"), 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 11(B) and 16(F) thereof;

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

CONSIDERING that Nebojsa Pavkovic ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 25 April 2005, and that his initial appearance was held on 28 April 2005;

CONSIDERING that on 28 April 2005, pursuant to Rule 45(C) of the Rules, the Deputy Registrar assigned Ms Chrissa Loukas as duty counsel to the Accused for the purposes of his initial appearance and for such other matters as necessary until replacement counsel is assigned;

CONSIDERING that the Accused has applied for the assignment of Tribunal-paid counsel pursuant to Article 8 of the Directive on the basis that he does not have sufficient means to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has not yet determined whether or to what extent the Accused is able to remunerate 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 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 assesses his ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 6 June 2005, the Accused requested the Registry to assign Mr John Ackerman, an attorney from the United States, as counsel to him;

CONSIDERING that Mr Ackerman is on the Tribunal’s list of lawyers eligible for assignment to indigent suspects or accused and has indicated his willingness to represent the Accused;

NOTING that Mr Ackerman is currently assigned as counsel to Radislav Brdjanin;

CONSIDERING that Mr Brđanin and the Accused have consented in writing to Mr Ackerman representing them both as required by Article 16(E)(i) of the Directive;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has ascertained that no conflict of interest exists between Mr Ackerman’s current representation of Mr Brdjanin and his representation of the Accused and has also ascertained that no conflict of interest exists between Mr Ackerman’s former representation of other accused before the Tribunal and his representation of the Accused;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has determined that Mr Ackerman’s representation of both Mr Brđanin and the Accused will not prejudice the defence of either Mr Brdjanin or the Accused;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Mr Ackerman 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 the assignment of Ms Loukas as duty counsel ceases as of the date of this decision;

DIRECTS Ms Loukas to hand over to Mr Ackerman any case-related materials she received during her assignment as duty counsel, in accordance with her duty under Article 9(D) of the Code of Conduct.

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John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this thirteenth day of June 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.