IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER

Before:
Judge Richard May, Presiding
Judge Mohamed Bennouna
Judge Patrick Robinson

Registrar:
Mrs. Dorothee de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh

Order of:
4 March 1999

PROSECUTOR

v.

DARIO KORDIC
MARIO CERKEZ

___________________________________________

ORDER ON MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME

___________________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor

Mr. Geoffrey Nice
Mr. Kenneth Scott
Ms. Susan Somers
Mr. Patrick Lopez-Terres

Counsel for the Accused

Mr. Mitko Naumovski, Mr. Leo Andreis, Mr. David F. Geneson, Mr. Turner T. Smith, Jr., and Ms. Ksenija Turkovic, for Dario Kordic
Mr. Bozidar Kovacic, for Mario Cerkez

 

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 ("the International Tribunal"),

BEING SEISED OF the "Motion for an Extension of Time" filed by the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecution") on 3 March 1999 ("the Motion"), seeking an extension of time for the disclosure of witness statements pursuant to the Order of the Trial Chamber of 26 February 1999 requiring the Prosecution to disclose to the Defence by Friday 5 March 1999 statements of all witnesses that the Prosecution intends to call at trial,

NOTING with extreme concern the stated inability of the Prosecution to meet the deadline imposed by the Trial Chamber, even though the accused have been in custody since October 1997 and the trial is scheduled to commence on Monday 12 April 1999, i.e., in one month,

NOTING with extreme concern the number of witnesses on the Prosecution witness list, which is said to amount to approximately 325,

CONSIDERING the right of the accused pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 4(b), of the Statute of the International Tribunal to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of their defence,

PURSUANT TO Rules 54 and 127 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Tribunal,

HEREBY ORDERS as follows:

  1. the Prosecution shall, to the best of its ability, comply with the Order of the Trial Chamber of 26 February 1999 forthwith;
  2. the Prosecution may continue to disclose to the Defence after 5 March 1999 and before 11 March 1999 witness statements that were not physically available for disclosure as at 5 March 1999 in a language which the accused understand; and
  3. the parties shall report to the Trial Chamber as to the status of pre-trial disclosure at the Pre-Trial Conference to be held on Thursday 11 March 1999.

 

Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative.

_____________________________

Richard May
Presiding

Dated this fourth day of March 1999
At The Hague
The Netherlands

[Seal of the Tribunal]