Case No. IT-98-32/1-PT

Prosecutor v. Sredoje Lukic

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 ("Rules"), and in particular Rules 44, 45 and 62(B) 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 7, 11(B), 14(B), and 16(F) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal (IT/125 REV.1) ("Code of Conduct") and in particular Article 9(D) thereof;

CONSIDERING that Mr Sredoje Lukic ("Accused") was transferred to the seat of the Tribunal on 16 September 2005, and that his initial appearance was on 20 September 2005;

CONSIDERING that on 19 September 2005, pursuant to Article 7 of the Directive, the Accused applied for legal aid and requested the assignment of Mr Stevo Bezbradica, attorney at law from Australia, as his counsel;

CONSIDERING however that Mr Bezbradica was not in The Hague, and as such, was not able to appear for the Accused at the initial appearance;

CONSIDERING that on 20 September 2005, pursuant to Rule 62(B) of the Rules, the Registry assigned Ms Chrissa Loukas as counsel to represent the Accused at his initial appearance, and in such other matters as necessary until the assignment of permanent counsel;

CONSIDERING that Mr Bezbradica is on the Tribunal’s list of lawyers eligible for assignment to indigent suspects or accused and has indicated his willingness to represent the Accused;

CONSIDERING that the Registry is satisfied that there are no other impediments to Mr Bezbradica’s assignment as counsel to the Accused;

CONSIDERING that the Registry has not yet determined whether or to what extent the Accused is able to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that in accordance with Article 11(B) of the Directive, the Registry may assign counsel to an accused for a period of 120 days to ensure that an accused’s right to counsel is not affected while the Registry examines the accused’s ability to remunerate counsel;

CONSIDERING that in this case it is necessary to assign counsel to the Accused pursuant to Article 11(B) of the Directive to ensure that his right to counsel is not affected while the Registry assesses his ability to remunerate counsel;

HEREBY DECIDES to assign Mr Bezbradica as counsel to the Accused for a period of 120 days pursuant to Article 11(B) of the Directive, effective as of the date of this decision;

DECIDES that the assignment of Ms Loukas as duty counsel ceases as of the date of this decision;

DIRECTS Ms Loukas in accordance with her duty under Article 9(D) of the Code of Conduct to hand over to Mr Bezbradica any case-related materials she received during her assignment as duty counsel.

John Hocking
Deputy Registrar

Dated this thirtieth day of September 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.