Case No. IT-04-84-PT

Prosecutor v. Lahi Brahimaj

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 6, 7, 8 and 11(A) thereof;

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

CONSIDERING that Lahi Brahimaj ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 9 March 2005 and that on 11 March 2005, acting pursuant to Article 16(F) of the Directive, the Registrar assigned Mr Richard Harvey, Barrister from the United Kingdom, as duty counsel to the Accused;

CONSIDERING that on 17 March 2005, the Accused submitted a declaration of means form to the Registry pursuant to Article 7(B) of the Directive, and requested the assignment of Mr Harvey as permanent Tribunal-paid counsel on the basis that he did not have sufficient means to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 18 April 2005, acting pursuant to the Article 11(B) of the Directive, the Deputy Registrar assigned Mr Harvey 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 examined his ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 12 October 2005, the Deputy Registrar extended Mr Harvey’s assignment for an additional period of 120 days, effective as of 16 August 2005;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has examined the information provided by the Accused in his declaration of means and has completed an inquiry into the Accused’s means pursuant to Article 10(A) of the Directive;

CONSIDERING that the Accused enjoys the use of a dwelling but is not the registered owner of the dwelling and is unable to sell or mortgage it to raise money for his defence before the International Tribunal;

CONSIDERING that even if the Accused proves to have an equitable ownership interest in the dwelling, the Registry would be unable to consider that ownership interest for the purpose of calculating the Accused’s ability to remunerate counsel because the dwelling does not exceed the reasonable needs of the Accused and the persons with whom he habitually resides;

CONSIDERING that the Accused owns an automobile which is of low value, which does not exceed the Accused’s reasonable needs and which cannot reasonably be considered for the purpose of calculating the Accused’s ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that with the exception of the above items, the Registry is satisfied that the Accused has no assets or income;

CONSIDERING therefore that the Registry is satisfied that the Accused does not have any means available to him which he can reasonably be expected to sell or raise money against to pay for his defence before the International Tribunal;

DECIDES in light of the above and in accordance with Article 11(A)(i) of the Directive that the Accused is eligible for full legal aid;

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

INFORMS the Accused and his counsel that the expenses relating to the Accused’s defence referred to in Articles 22, 26 and 27 of the Directive shall be borne by the International Tribunal.

 

________________
John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this twenty-fifth day of November 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.