Case No. IT-98-32/1-PT

Prosecutor v. Milan Lukic

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, 45 and 62(B) 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 8, 11(B), 14(B), 16(E) and 16(F) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (IT/125 REV.1) ("Code of Conduct") and in particular Articles 9 and 14 thereof;

NOTING that Mr Milan Lukic ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 21 February 2006, and that his initial appearance was held on 24 February 2006;

NOTING that on 23 February 2006, at the request of the Accused and pursuant to Rule 45(C) of the Rules, the Registrar assigned Mr Michael Karnavas, attorney at law from the United States, as duty counsel to the Accused for the purposes of his initial appearance and for such other matters as necessary until a permanent counsel is assigned;

CONSIDERING that on 1 March 2006 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, and requested the assignment of Mr Karnavas as his counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr Karnavas is currently representing Mr Jadranko Prlic before the Tribunal and that trial proceedings in Mr Prlic’s case are scheduled to commence in the near future;

CONSIDERING that on 20 March 2006, the Registry informed the Accused that Mr Karnavas could not be assigned as his permanent counsel due to a scheduling conflict;

CONSIDERING that on 4 April 2006, the Accused requested the Registry to assign Mr Alan Yatwin, attorney at law from Philadelphia, as counsel to him;

CONSIDERING that Mr Yatwin is a member of the Association of Defence Counsel and is currently on the Rule 45 list of counsel eligible to represent indigent suspects and accused and has indicated his willingness to represent the Accused;

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;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Mr Yatwin 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 Mr Karnavas as duty counsel ceases as of the date of this decision;

DIRECTS Mr Karnavas to hand over to Mr Yatwin any case-related materials he received during his assignment as duty counsel, in accordance with his duty under Article 9(D) of the Code of Conduct.

_____________
John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this thirteenth day of April 2006
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.