Case No. IT-04-83 PT

Prosecutor v. Rasim Delic

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, and in particular Rule 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 14 and 16(C) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (IT/125 REV.1);

CONSIDERING that Rasim Delic (“Accused”) was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 28 February 2005 and that on or about that date, he indicated that he would apply for the assignment of Tribunal-paid counsel to represent him before the Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that on 2 March 2005, acting pursuant to Article 16(F) of the Directive, the Deputy Registrar assigned Mr Stéphane Bourgon, Attorney at law from Canada, as duty counsel to the Accused;

CONSIDERING that on 14 March 2005, the Accused submitted a declaration of means form to the Registry pursuant to Article 7(B) of the Directive, thereby applying for the assignment of Tribunal-paid counsel on the basis that he did not have sufficient means to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 27 June 2005, acting pursuant to Article 11(B) of the Directive, the Deputy Registrar assigned Ms Vasvija Vidovic, attorney at law from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as counsel to the Accused for a period of 120 days, determining that an interim assignment of counsel was necessary to ensure that the Accused’s right to counsel was not affected while the Registry conducted an inquiry into his ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 25 October 2005, acting pursuant to Article 11(B) of the Directive, the Deputy Registrar extended the interim assignment of Ms Vidovic for a period of 60 days pending the completion of the Registry’s inquiry into the Accused’s ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 28 November 2005, the Deputy Registrar issued a decision on the Accused’s ability to remunerate counsel, finding the Accused able to remunerate counsel in part and assigning Ms Vidovic as counsel to the Accused permanently;

CONSIDERING that Ms Vidovic has requested the assignment of Ms Quincy Whitaker, Barrister from the United Kingdom, as her co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that Ms Whitaker is on the Tribunal’s list of counsel eligible for assignment to indigent suspects and accused, and has indicated her willingness to be assigned as co-counsel in the Accused’s case;

CONSIDERING that, having reviewed the submissions of Ms Vidovic, the Registry is of the view that in the Accused’s case it is in the interests of justice to assign Ms Whitaker as co-counsel;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Ms Whitaker as co-counsel to Ms Vidovic, effective as of the date of this decision.

 

_____________
John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this 2nd day of December 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.