THE PRESIDENT OF THE TRIBUNAL

Before: President Gabrielle Kirk McDonald

Registrar: Mrs. Dorothee de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh

Order of: 2 July 1998

 

PROSECUTOR

v.

MILAN KOVACEVIC

___________________________

ORDER

___________________________

Office of the Prosecutor:

Ms. Brenda Hollis
Mr. Michael Keegan

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Dusan Vucicevic
Mr. Anthony D’Amato

 

 

I, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, President 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"),

NOTING the Order filed on 29 May 1998 in case number IT-97-24-AR73, in which the Appeals Chamber ordered that Trial Chamber II grant leave to the Prosecutor to amend the Indictment,

NOTING the Order filed on 2 June 1998, in which Trial Chamber II granted leave to the Prosecutor to amend the Indictment,

NOTING that the original Indictment against Milan Kovacevic was confirmed by Judge Odio-Benito on 13 March 1997, whose term was extended pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1126 for the sole purpose of completing the case of Prosecutor v. Zejnil Delalic, Zdravko Mucic, Hazim Delic, and Esad Landzo, Case No. IT-96-21-T,

NOTING the Order of the President filed on 19 June 1998 assigning a duty Judge to review the amended Indictment, at the request of Judge May, and Judge Riad’s subsequent confirmation of the amended Indictment on 23 June 1998,

NOTING FURTHER the Defendant’s Motion to Vacate the Indictment Confirmation of 27 June 1998,

CONSIDERING Rules 15, 19, 28, 47, and 50 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal ("the Rules"),

CONSIDERING the inability of the confirming Judge of the original Indictment, Judge Odio-Benito, to review the amended Indictment,

CONSIDERING the power conferred upon the President of the Tribunal by Rule 19(A) of the Rules to coordinate the work of the Chambers,

CONSIDERING the power conferred upon the duty Judge of a Chamber by Rule 28(B) to exercise all the functions of any single Judge of that Chamber,

CONSIDERING that Judge Riad was only temporarily assigned to the Kovacevic case in Judge Wang’s absence, was not so assigned when he reviewed the amended Indictment, did not participate in either the preparation of the Order of the Appeals Chamber of 29 May 1998 directing the Trial Chamber to grant leave to the Prosecutor to amend the Indictment or the 2 July 1998 Decision stating reasons for that Order, and thus is not disqualified by Rule 15(A) of the Rules,

CONSIDERING FURTHER that whether a prima facie case has been established for the amended Indictment has not been considered by the Appeals Chamber in either the Order of 29 May 1998 or the Decision of 2 July 1998,

HEREBY DECIDE to deny the Defence Motion to Vacate the Indictment Confirmation.

 

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

 ___________________

Gabrielle Kirk McDonald

President

Dated this second day of July 1998

At The Hague

The Netherlands

[Seal of the Tribunal]