Case No.: IT-02-54-T
IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER
Before:
Judge Richard May, Presiding
Judge Patrick Robinson
Judge O-Gon Kwon
Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis
Decision of:
29 August 2002
PROSECUTOR
v.
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
_________________________________________________
DECISION ON PROSECUTION’S APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATION UNDER RULE 73 (B) CONCERNING RULE 70
__________________________________________________
The Office of the Prosecutor
Mr. Geoffrey Nice
Mr. Dirk Ryneveld
The Accused
Slobodan Milosevic
Amici Curiae
Mr. Steven Kay
Mr. Branislav Tapuskovic
Mr. Michaïl Wladimiroff
THIS TRIAL CHAMBER 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 ("International Tribunal"),
BEING SEISED of a "Prosecution’s Application for Certification Under Rule 73 (B)" filed by the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecution") on 1 August 2002 ("Application"), in which the Prosecution seeks certification from the Trial Chamber for interlocutory appeal of its decision of 25 July 2002 that Rule 70 did not apply to witness testimony which had been provided to the Prosecution by a government under the regime and protection of Rule 70,
NOTING the Prosecution’s arguments in favour of its Application, that:
NOTING that Rule 73 (B) requires two cumulative criteria to be satisfied before the Trial Chamber can exercise its discretion to certify a decision for interlocutory appeal: (1) that the issue would significantly affect the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings or outcome of the trial, and (2) an immediate resolution of the issue may, in the opinion of the Trial Chamber, materially advance the proceedings,
CONSIDERING that the nature of Rule 70 evidence, its origin and the manner in which the Trial Chamber is to apply it, impacts significantly on both the fair and expeditious conduct of proceedings and possibly the outcome of the trial,
CONSIDERING that this issue has not been determined by the Appeals Chamber and has been the subject of different practice in another Trial Chamber, and that there have been several similar applications in this trial and more are anticipated, the Trial Chamber considers that immediate resolution of this issue would materially advance the proceedings,
PURSUANT to Rule 73 (B) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence
HEREBY CERTIFIES the interlocutory appeal of the Decision.
Done in English and French, the English version being authoritative.
__________________
Richard May
Presiding
Dated this twenty-ninth day of August 2002
At The Hague
The Netherlands
[Seal of the Tribunal]