Case No. IT-02-61-S
IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER II
Before: Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis
Decision:
19 December 2003
PROSECUTOR
v.
MIROSLAV DERONJIC
____________________________________
ORDER ON ADMISSION INTO EVIDENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORT
____________________________________
The Office of the Prosecutor:
Mr. Mark Harmon
Counsel for the Accused:
Mr. Slobodan Cvijetic
Mr. Slobodan Zecevic
TRIAL CHAMBER II 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 (hereinafter the "Tribunal"),
NOTING that Article 24 (2) of the Statute states that "[ i] n imposing the sentences, the Trial Chamber should take into account such factors as the gravity of the offence and the individual circumstances of the convicted person",
NOTING that the Trial Chamber considered it "therefore necessary to receive an expert report on the Accused’s socialization, which provides inter alia details on the Accused’s childhood, conditions under which he grew up, school and work career and relations with friends and family until today",1
NOTING that Ana Najman, a specialist in clinical psychology from Belgrade and a court-appointed expert in psychology, following her appointment as consultant for the period 18 November 2003 to 18 December 2003 by the Registrar, submitted a psychological report on Miroslav Deronjic (hereinafter “Psychological Report”),2
NOTING that pursuant to Rule 89 (C) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (hereinafter the "Rules") "a Chamber may admit any relevant evidence which it deems to have probative value",
NOTING that pursuant to Rule 89 (F) of the Rules "a Chamber may receive the evidence of a witness orally or, where the interests of justice allow, in written form",
CONSIDERING that the Psychological Report is based on (i) a reading of the Amended Indictment of 29 November 2002; (ii) a psychological examination conducted in the UN Detention Unit on 1, 3, 4 and 5 December 2003; (iii) supporting information received from the family; and (iv) interviews with the parties to the trial,3 and that, consequently, it can assist the Trial Chamber in its determination of an appropriate sentence,
CONSIDERING that it is in the interests of justice to allow the Psychological Report’s admission into evidence in written form, as it saves the Tribunal’s resources,
CONSIDERING that both Parties enjoy the right to be heard before any decisions are taken proprio motu by the Tribunal,
PURSUANT TO Rules 54, 89 (C), 89 (F), 94 bis, and 98, second sentence, of the Rules,
HEREBY
INVITES each Party to file no later than 9 January 2004 a notice indicating whether or not:
(1) it accepts the Psychological Report;
(2) it wishes to cross-examine Ana Najman;
(3) it challenges the qualifications of Ana Najman as an expert or the relevance
of all or parts of the Psychological Report and, if so, which parts;
ANNOUNCES
that if there are no objections by any of the Parties, the Psychological Report will proprio motu be admitted into evidence without calling Ana Najman to testify in person.
INSTRUCTS
the Registry to provide the Parties with a copy of the Psychological Report.
Done in English and French, the English version being authoritative.
Dated this nineteenth day of December 2003,
At The Hague
The Netherlands
______________
Judge Wolfgang Schomburg,
Presiding
[Seal of the Tribunal]