On 28 July 2004, the Judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia adopted, in Plenary, amendments to, among others, Rules 44 and 45 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (hereinafter “the Rules”) and to Articles 14 and 15 of the Directive on the Assignment of Defense Counsel (hereinafter “the Directive”). These amendments set new higher qualification requirements for counsel practicing before the Tribunal, as well as a more rigorous vetting of candidates for admission to the list of qualified counsel (“Rule 45 list”).
According to these amendments, counsel:
1. must be admitted to the practice of law in a State, or be a university professor of law. (Rule 44 (A)(i) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (i) of the Directive);
2. must have written and oral proficiency in one of the two working languages of the Tribunal (Rule 44 (A)(ii) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (ii) of the Directive)*;
3. must be a member in good standing of the Association of Defense Counsel practicing before the Tribunal (ADC-ICTY) (Rule 44 (A)(iii) of the Rules; Article 14 (A)(ix) of the Directive);
4. must not have been found guilty or otherwise disciplined in relevant disciplinary proceedings against him/her in a national or international forum, including proceedings pursuant to the Code of Professional Conduct for Defense Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (Rule 44 (A)(iv) of the Rules; Article 14 (A)(v) of the Directive)**;
5. must not have been found guilty in relevant criminal proceedings (Rule 44 (A)(v) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (vi) of the Directive);
6. must not have engaged in conduct whether in pursuit of his/her profession or otherwise which is dishonest or otherwise discreditable to a counsel, prejudicial to the administration of justice, or likely to diminish public confidence in the International Tribunal or the administration of justice, or otherwise bring the International Tribunal into disrepute (Rule 44 (A)(vi) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (vii) of the Directive);
7. must not have provided false or misleading information in relation to his/her qualifications and fitness to practice or have failed to provide relevant information (Rule 44 (A)(vii) of the Rules);
8. must possess established competence in criminal law and/or international criminal law/international humanitarian law/ international human rights law (Rule 45 (B)(ii) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (iii) of the Directive);
9. must possess at least seven years of relevant experience, whether as a judge, prosecutor, attorney or in some other capacity, in criminal proceedings (Rule 45 (B)(iii) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (iv) of the Directive);
10. must have indicated his or her availability and willingness to be assigned by the Tribunal to any person detained under the authority of the Tribunal lacking the means to remunerate counsel, under the terms set out in the Directive (Rule 45 (B)(iv) of the Rules; Article 14 (A) (viii) of the Directive);
On 2 August 2004, the Registry sent a letter to all counsel, whose names were on the Rule 45 list, informing them of the new qualification requirements and inviting them to apply for re-admission to the list by 1 October 2004 and prove that they meet these requirements in order to remain eligible for future assignments. Counsel who did not re-apply until 1 October 2004 were not included in the new Rule 45 list. Therefore, if your name was previously on the Rule 45 list and you wish it to be included in the new list, please apply for re-admission to the list and provide the Registry with documents listed in the next section “Procedure for submission of application”.
Counsel currently engaged in ongoing proceedings will be required to seek re-admission to the Rule 45 list only if their assignment is sought in a new case or if they are retained as a counsel by a new client.
* If the Registrar deems it in the interest of justice, he may waive this requirements, as provided in Rule 44 (B) of the Rules and Article 14(C) of Directive. Counsel admitted without the language requirement are only eligible for assignment as co-counsel, pursuant to Article 16 (C)(ii) of the Directive.
** This requirement will be applied with some flexibility where the Registrar deems that, in the circumstances, would be disproportionate to exclude such counsel.