Case No. IT-98-34-A

Prosecutor v. Mladen NALETILIC

DECISION

THE REGISTRAR,

CONSIDERING the Statute of the Tribunal as adopted by the Security Council under Resolution 827 (1993), and in particular Article 21 thereof;

CONSIDERING the Rules of Procedure and Evidence as adopted by the Tribunal on 11 February 1994, as subsequently amended, and in particular Rules 44 and 45 thereof;

CONSIDERING the Directive on Assignment of Defence Counsel, as subsequently amended, and in particular Article 19 (A) (i) thereof;

CONSIDERING the Code of Professional Conduct for Defence Counsel Appearing before the International Tribunal ("the Code of Conduct"), and in particular, Article 5, Article 9, and Article 20 thereof;

NOTING in particular Article 9(D) of the Code of Conduct, which requires the surrender of papers and property to which the client or Tribunal is entitled to the accused or replacement counsel, upon termination or withdrawal of representation;

NOTING Article 13(A) of the Code of Conduct, which states, that:

Whether or not counsel continues to represent a client, counsel shall preserve the confidentiality of the client’s affairs and shall not reveal to any other person, other than to members of his team who need such information for the performance of their duties, information which has been entrusted to him in confidence or use such information to the client’s detriment or to his own or another client’s advantage.

CONSIDERING that Mr. Mladen NALETILIC (hereinafter "the accused"), has alleged that Mr. Kresimir Krsnik has violated the confidentiality of the accused, the Code of Conduct and Protective Orders issued by the Court;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has obtained corroborating evidence that indicates that the allegations of the accused are sufficiently serious and sufficiently credible to justify the withdrawal of Mr. Kresimir Krsnik as lead counsel in order to prevent any possible interference with the administration of justice in this appeal;

CONSIDERING that the accused has officially informed the Registry in a request dated 17 June 2003 that the assignment of Mr. Kresimir Krsnik as lead counsel be withdrawn;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Kresimir Krsnik had previously requested the Registry to facilitate the assignment of Mr. Matthew Hennessey to the accused, and has not objected to his withdrawal;

CONSIDERING that Article 19 (D) of the Directive stipulates that if the Registrar has withdrawn the assignment of counsel, then the Registrar shall immediately assign a new counsel to the accused;

CONSIDERING the request of the accused of 17 June 2003 to assign Mr. Matthew Hennessy as lead counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Matt Hennessy officially informed the Registry on 17 June 2003 that he wishes to represent the accused as his lead counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Matt Hennessy is currently on the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be considered for assignment of counsel, and that there are no conflicts of interest;

NOTING that on 26 May 2003, an extension of time to file the appeal brief was sought on behalf of the accused on the basis, inter alia, that Mr. Kresimir Krsnik was counsel in name only and thus was not involved in preparing the appeal brief;

NOTING therefore that a withdrawal of Mr. Kresimir Krsnik at this stage of proceedings would not be detrimental to the representation of the accused and would avoid further delay in the appeal proceedings;

FINDING that the circumstances cited by the accused justify a withdrawal of counsel "in the interests of justice" under Article 19(A)(1);

HEREBY DECIDES to withdraw the assignment of Mr. Kresimir Krsnik as lead counsel and to assign Mr. Matthew Hennessy, attorney at law from Houston, as replacement lead counsel for the accused, effective as of the date of this decision.

 

Hans Holthuis
Registrar

Dated this 20th day of June 2003
At The Hague
The Netherlands