Case No. IT-03-66-PT

CONSIDERING the Statute of the Tribunal as adopted by the Security Council under Resolution 827 (1993), and in particular Article 21 thereof;

CONSIDERING the Rules of Procedure and Evidence as adopted by the Tribunal on 11 February 1994, as subsequently amended, and in particular Rules 44 and 45 thereof;

CONSIDERING the Directive on Assignment of Defence Counsel (hereinafter "the Directive"), as adopted by the Tribunal on 28 July 1994, as subsequently amended, and in particular Articles 8, 9, 10, 11 (A)(i) and 16 thereof;

CONSIDERING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (IT/125 REV.1) (hereinafter "the Code of Conduct"), and in particular Articles 9, 13 and 14 thereof;

NOTING the Decision of the Deputy Registrar of 7 July 2004 assigning Mr. Gregor Guy-Smith, attorney at law from California, as lead counsel to the Accused;

NOTING that in the same decision, the Deputy Registrar denied the Accused’s request to have Mr. Richard Harvey, attorney at law from London, assigned as lead counsel because at the time of the decision, he was not on the Rule 45 list of counsel eligible for assignment to indigent accused nor was he a member of the Association of Defence Counsel and, in order to avoid any potential conflict of interest arising from the fact that Mr. Harvey and the lead counsel for Mr. Limaj and Mr. Musliu, co-defendants in this case, work at the same law firm;

CONSIDERING however, the request made by Mr. Guy-Smith on 27 September 2004 for the assignment of Mr. Harvey as co-counsel and the reasons provided therein;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Harvey is a native English speaker with more than thirty years of professional experience in criminal and human rights law, has not been subject to any relevant criminal or disciplinary proceedings and fulfils all qualification requirements for assignment as counsel under the Rules and the Directive;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Harvey has become a member of the Association of Defence Counsel and his name has been added to the Rule 45 (B) list of counsel eligible to be considered for assignment to indigent accused;

CONSIDERING further the submissions of Mr. Harvey, the Registry is now of the view that given the organisational structure of the English law chambers, they cannot be considered as "law firms" within the meaning of Article 14 (D) of the Code of Conduct, and that, therefore, the fact that two barristers from the same chamber represent two accused with potentially adverse interests cannot, in itself, lead to a conflict of interest;

CONSIDERING further that on 23 September 2004, after meeting with the Accused at the UN Detention Unit, Mr. Harvey expressed his willingness to be assigned as co-counsel to the Accused;

CONSIDERING that in accordance with Article 16(C) of the Directive, at the request of lead counsel, the Registrar may assign a second counsel to assist the lead counsel if it is in the interests of justice to do so;

CONSIDERING that the Registry is satisfied that the requirements of the Rules and the Directive with respect to the assignment of a co-counsel are met;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Mr. Richard Harvey as co-counsel to the Accused, effective as of the date of this decision.

John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this thirtieth day of September 2004
At The Hague
The Netherlands