THIS BENCH of the Appeals 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 ("the International Tribunal");

BEING SEIZED OF the "Prosecutor’s Appeal Against the Trial Chamber’s Decision on Motion for Judicial Assistance to be Provided by SFOR and Others Dated 18 October 2000 or, Alternatively, Application for Leave to Appeal Against that Decision and Request for a Stay of the Decision", filed by the Prosecutor on 26 October 2000 ("the Application for Leave to Appeal");

NOTING the "Notice to the Appeals Chamber of the Todorovic Defense’s Joinder in the Prosecutor’s Application for an Oral Hearing as to Stay of Trial Chamber’s Order and as to Definition of Scope of Appeal", filed by the Defence for Stevan Todorovic ("the Defence") on 30 October 2000 and the "Accused Stevan Todorovic’s Motion to Dismiss the Prosecutor’s Appeal, Opposition to Application for Leave to Appeal Against Trial Chamber’s Interlocutory Order Dated October 18, 2000 and in Opposition of a Stay; Motion for an Expedited Appeal Should Leave be Granted; Joinder in Application for Oral Hearing on Stay" filed by the Defence on 31 October 2000 (together "the Responses");

NOTING that pursuant to the "Practice Direction on Procedure for the Filing of Written Submissions in Appeal Proceedings Before the International Tribunal" (IT/155), the Prosecutor "may file a reply within four days of the filing of the response" and that no such reply has been filed to the Responses;

NOTING the "Decision On Motion for Judicial Assistance to be Provided by SFOR and Others", issued and filed on 18 October 2000 ("the Impugned Decision");

NOTING that the Application for Leave to Appeal has also been filed in the alternative under Rule 72(B)(i) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Tribunal ("the Rules") and that the issues raised therein have already been considered by the full Appeals Chamber in the "Decision on Interlocutory Appeal filed by Prosecutor on 26 October 2000 from Trial Chamber Decision Dated 18 October 2000", issued on 4 December 2000¹;

CONSIDERING that Rule 73 (C) of the Rules requires that an application for leave to appeal "shall be filed within seven days of the filing of the impugned decision";

NOTING that the Application for Leave to Appeal was filed eight days after the filing of the Impugned Decision;

CONSIDERING that no request for an extension of time has been filed pursuant to Rule 127 of the Rules but to the contrary the Prosecutor argues that the Application for Leave to Appeal is filed within time as "the Prosecution has deemed the date of filing of the impugned decision to be October 19^th"² despite the fact that the Impugned Decision has been recorded by the Registry of the International Tribunal as filed on 18 October 2000;

FINDING that the Application for Leave to Appeal was filed out of time;

HEREBY REJECTS the Application for Leave to Appeal.

Done in both English and French, the English text being authoritative.

_________________________________
Mohamed Shahabuddeen
Presiding

Dated this fifth day of December 2000
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.

[Seal of the Tribunal]

1. IT-95-9-AR72.2.
2. Application for Leave to Appeal, p. 2.