Case No. IT-04-74-PT

Prosecutor v. Bruno Stojic

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 Assignment of Defence Counsel, as adopted by the Tribunal on 28 July 1994, as subsequently amended ("Directive"), and in particular, Articles 6, 8, 10, 11(A), 18, and 23(C) thereof;

NOTING that on 31 March 2004, Bruno Stojic (“Accused”) submitted a power of attorney for Mr. Zeljko Olujic, Attorney at Law from Zagreb, to represent him pursuant to Rule 44 of the Rules;

NOTING that on 6 April 2004, the Accused submitted a statement to the Registry indicating that the Croatian Government had agreed to cover the costs of his defence, and that he did not intend to request legal aid paid for by the Tribunal;

NOTING however, that on 4 November 2004, the Accused submitted a Declaration of Means pursuant to Article 8 of the Directive, requesting the assignment of Mr. Olujic pursuant to Rule 45 of the Rules on the basis that he did not have sufficient means to remunerate counsel;

NOTING the Appeals Chamber’s “Decision on Appeal by Bruno Stojic Against Trial Chamber’s Decision on Request for Appointment of Counsel” of 24 November 2004, in which the Appeals Chamber upheld the Trial Chamber’s finding that, in view of Mr. Olujic’s current representation of Ivica Rajic, there was a potential conflict of interest for Mr. Olujic to represent the Accused;

CONSIDERING that on 2 February 2005, the Accused submitted a power of attorney appointing Mr. Berislav Živkovic, Attorney at Law from Zagreb, as his counsel pursuant to Rule 44 of the Rules, until such time the Registry assigns permanent counsel to him;

CONSIDERING that on 5 October 2005, the Accused submitted a power of attorney for Mr. Tomislav Kuzmanovic, Attorney at Law from Wisconsin, to represent him as lead counsel;

CONSIDERING that the Accused was given an opportunity to comment on the findings of the Registry’s inquiries into his means before the Registry made a final determination on his ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that according to Article 8 (B) of the Directive, the eligibility of an accused for legal aid shall be determined by taking into account "[…]means of all kinds of which he has direct or indirect enjoyment or freely disposes, including but not limited to direct income, bank accounts, real or personal property, pensions, and stocks, bonds, or other assets held, but excluding any family or social benefits to which he may be entitled. In assessing such means, account shall also be taken of the means of the spouse of a suspect or accused, as well as those of persons with whom he habitually resides, provided that it is reasonable to take such means into account";

CONSIDERING that pursuant to Article 8(C) of the Directive, "[a]ccount may also be taken of the apparent lifestyle of a suspect or accused, and of his enjoyment of any property, movable or immovable, and whether or not he derives income from it";

CONSIDERING that the eligibility of an accused for legal aid is determined according to the "Registry Policy for Determining the Extent to which a Suspect or an Accused is able to Remunerate Counsel" ("Registry Policy") – attached as Appendix II to this Decision;

NOTING that according to the Registry Policy, the Registry deducts from an applicant’s disposable means the estimated living expenses of his family and dependents during the estimated period in which the applicant will require representation before the International Tribunal - the amount remaining being the contribution to be made by the applicant to the cost of his defence;

Principal Family Home

CONSIDERING that the Accused, his spouse, his son and his two daughters reside in a house in Croatia ("Principal Family Home");

CONSIDERING that, equity in the Accused’s Principal Family Home is included in his disposable means to the extent that it exceeds the reasonable needs of the Accused, his spouse and the persons with whom he habitually resides;

Furnishing in the Accused’s Principal Family Home

CONSIDERING that the Accused’s Principal Family Home does not have luxury items of extraordinary value, and therefore the Registry includes no equity of the furnishings in the Accused’s disposable means;

Real Property other than the Principal Family Home owned by the Accused

CONSIDERING that the Accused owns a piece of land in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that the land is, therefore, included in the Accused’s disposable means;

Principal Family Vehicle

CONSIDERING that the Accused’s spouse has leased a VW Golf 2.0 SDI;

CONSIDERING that under the marital property regime of Croatia where the Accused and his spouse reside, the Accused spouse’s vehicle constitutes marital property;

CONSIDERING, however due to the lease contract, the Accused cannot dispose of the car for the next five years, and therefore, the Registry includes no equity in the Accused’s Principal Family Vehicle;

Stocks, Bonds, and Bank Accounts

CONSIDERING that the Registry includes in the Accused’s disposable means the compensation paid to the Accused for his share in a company which he has recently sold;

CONSIDERING that the Accused has bank debts and that under Section 5(d) of the Registry Policy, such debts may be included in the Accused’s disposable means;

CONSIDERING therefore that the Accused’s debts are included in his disposable means as a negative integer;

Income

CONSIDERING that the Accused is unemployed and has no regular income within the meaning of Section 7 of the Registry Policy;

CONSIDERING that the Accused’s spouse is employed and has a regular salary;

CONSIDERING that the Accused’s son is currently unemployed and does not have a regular income;

CONSIDERING that the Accused’s older daughter is currently receiving a monthly salary as compensation for her one year internship, but that this salary does not constitute income within the meaning of Section 7 of the Registry Policy, and is therefore excluded from the Accused’s disposable means;

CONSIDERING that, although the Accused’s has another source of income derived from renting the apartment on the second floor of the Principle Family Home, the Registry has not taken this source of income into account, as it has considered the equity in the entire Principal Family Home in the Accused’s disposable means;

NOTING that according to the Registry Policy, the Registry includes in an applicant’s disposable means income of the applicant, his spouse and the persons with whom he habitually resides, and that such income is calculated on the basis that it will continue to be received from the date the Registry files its decision on the extent to which an applicant is able to remunerate counsel until the conclusion of the estimated period in which the applicant will require representation before the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that the income expected to be received by the Accused, his spouse and the persons with whom he habitually resides during the estimated period in which the Accused will require Tribunal-paid representation before the International Tribunal is included in the Accused’s disposable means;

The Accused’s Estimated Living Expenses

CONSIDERING that in accordance with the Registry Policy, the estimated living expenses of the Accused and his family during the estimated period in which the Accused will require Tribunal-paid representation before the Tribunal are deducted from his disposable means, the amount remaining being the contribution to be made by the Accused to his defence;

CONSIDERING that, although the Registry has observed a significant discrepancy between the Accused’s income and his expenses, the Registry has not been able to establish on the balance of probabilities that the Accused has other sources of income, which have not been disclosed to the Registry;

The Accused’s Contribution

CONSIDERING that in determining the extent to which the Accused is able to remunerate counsel, the Registry applies the formula in Section 11 of the Registry Policy, which reads;

DM – ELE = C

Where:

DM represents an applicant’s disposable means as calculated under Sections 5-8 of the Registry Policy

ELE represents the estimated living expenses of an applicant, his spouse, his dependants and the persons with whom he habitually resides as calculated under Section 10 of the Registry Policy

C represents the contribution to be made by an applicant to his defence

CONSIDERING that by applying the formula, the Accused’s contribution is US$217,324, and as such he is able to remunerate counsel partially;

CONSIDERING that the costs of an accused’s defence before the Tribunal are contingent on the level of complexity of the case and, for the purposes of the trial stage, the estimated duration of proceedings;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has not yet finalized these determinations in the Accused’s case, but that once finalized these determinations will be communicated to the Accused’s counsel;

DECIDES in light of the foregoing and in accordance with article 11(A)(ii) of the Directive, that the Accused is partially eligible for legal aid and that he shall contribute US$217,324 to his defence costs;

DECIDES that with the exception of the Accused’s contribution of US$217,324, the expenses referred to in Articles 22, 26 and 27 of the Directive shall be borne by the Tribunal;

DECIDES without prejudice to Article 18 of the Directive and pursuant to Article 11(A)(i) of the Directive to assign Mr. Tomislav Kuzmanovic as counsel to the Accused permanently, effective as of the date of this decision;

INFORMS the Accused and his counsel that the Accused’s contribution of US$217,324 will be deducted from legal aid allotments paid to his defence in a manner to be agreed upon by the Registry and the Accused’s counsel.

 

John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this 5th day of October 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands