Prosecutor v Dragan Jokic

Case No IT-02-60-A

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 the Assignment of Defence Counsel as adopted by the Tribunal on 28 July 1994, as subsequently amended ("Directive"), and in particular Articles 11(A), 14, 16(C), and 19(A)(ii) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal ("Code of Conduct"), and in particular Article 9(D) thereof;

NOTING that Trial Chamber I rendered its Judgment in Case No IT-02-60-T on 17 January 2005;

CONSIDERING that on 22 February 2005, the Registry assigned Ms Cynthia Sinatra as counsel to Mr Dragan Jokic (“Accused”);

NOTING that on 23 February 2005, the Accused filed his Notice of Appeal pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules;

CONSIDERING that on 12 August 2005, Ms Sinatra requested the assignment of Ms Chrissa Loukas, attorney at law from Australia, as her co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 19 August 2005, Ms Loukas was assigned as co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that in a correspondence dated 24 October 2005, Ms Loukas requested that she be withdrawn as co-counsel;

NOTING that pursuant to Article 19(A)(ii) of the Directive, the Registry may withdraw the assignment of co-counsel at the request of the lead counsel if it is in the interest of justice;

CONSIDERING that in a correspondence dated 27 October 2005, the Registry requested Ms Sinatra’s comments in respect of Ms Loukas’ request to be withdrawn;

CONSIDERING that in a correspondence dated 8 November 2005, Ms Sinatra acknowledged Ms Loukas’ request, but failed to comment on the merits of that request;

CONSIDERING that in a correspondence dated 15 November 2005, the Registry requested that Ms Sinatra provide it with the following information:

    1. Whether she considered Ms Loukas’ assignment as co-counsel to be necessary to the defence team at the current stage of the proceedings and, if not, why, and,

    2. Whether she supported Ms Loukas’ request for withdrawal;

CONSIDERING that in a correspondence dated 27 November 2005 and in a further oral communication with a Registry representative on 1 December 2005, Ms Sinatra confirmed that the Jokic defence team does not require the assignment of Ms Loukas as co-counsel and that Ms Sinatra supports Ms Loukas’s request to be withdrawn from the case;

CONSIDERING that the Registry is satisfied that the interests of justice no longer require the assignment of Ms Loukas as co-counsel;

HEREBY DECIDES to withdraw Ms Loukas as co-counsel to Ms Sinatra pursuant to Article 19(A)(ii) of the Directive, effective as of the date of this decision;

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

 

_________________
John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this second day of December 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.