Case No. IT-03-66-PT

Prosecutor v. Haradin Bala

DECISION

THE REGISTRAR,

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 (hereinafter "the Rules") 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 (B) and 16 (C);

CONSIDERING the request of Mr. Haradin Bala (hereinafter "the accused") dated 12 March 2003 requesting the assignment of Mr. Tome Gashi, attorney at law from Prishtina, as his lead counsel and the assignment of Mr. Peter Murphy, attorney at law from Houston, as his co-counsel;

CONSIDERING the decision of the Registrar dated 20 February 2003 assigning Mr. Murphy as counsel for the accused in order to represent him for his initial appearance;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Gashi was not listed on the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be considered for an assignment;

CONSIDERING that on 30 April 2003 the association of counsel practicing before the Tribunal and recognized by the Registrar on 4 October 2002 has certified that Mr. Gashi is a member of the association;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Gashi meets the requirement as set forth in Article 14 (iii) of the Directive;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Murphy has stated in a letter to the Registry dated 7 May 2003 that he is no longer a member of the defence team of the accused Dragan Joki};

CONSIDERING that no conflict of interest is resulting from the assignment of Mr. Murphy as co-counsel for the accused;

CONSIDERING that Mr. Murphy is currently on the Rule 45 list of counsel who are eligible to be considered for an assignment as counsel;

CONSIDERING that on the basis of Article 16 (C) of the Directive, the Registrar may assign a second counsel to assist the lead counsel in the interests of justice;

CONSIDERING that the declaration of means of the accused dated 19 February 2003 has not yet been certified by the appropriate authority;

CONSIDERING that the right of the accused to counsel should not be affected while the Registrar examines the declaration of means laid down in Article 7 of the Directive and the information obtained pursuant to Article 10 of the Directive;

DECIDES to withdraw the assignment of Mr. Murphy as lead counsel for the accused, to reassign him as co-counsel for 120 days and to assign Mr. Gashi as lead counsel for the accused for 120 days.

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Hans Holthuis
Registrar

Dated this ninth day of May 2003
At The Hague
The Netherlands