IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER

Before:
Judge Patrick Robinson, Presiding
Judge O-Gon Kwon
Judge Iain Bonomy

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
28 April 2006

PROSECUTOR

v.

MILAN MILUTINOVIC
NIKOLA SAINOVIC
DRAGOLJUB OJDANIC
NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC
VLADIMIR LAZAREVIC
VLASTIMIR DORDEVIC
SRETEN LUKIC

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SECOND DECISION ON MOTIONS TO DELAY PROPOSED DATE FOR START OF TRIAL

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Office of the Prosecutor

Mr. Thomas Hannis
Mr. Chester Stamp
Ms. Christina Moeller
Ms. Patricia Fikirini
Mr. Mathias Marcussen

Counsel for the Accused

Mr. Eugene O’Sullivan and Mr. Slobodan Zecevic for Mr. Milan Milutinovic
Mr. Toma Fila and Mr. Vladimir Petrovic for Mr. Nikola Sainovic
Mr. Tomislav Visnjic and Mr. Peter Robinson for Mr. Dragoljub Ojdanic
Mr. John Ackerman and Mr. Aleksander Aleksic for Mr. Nebojsa Pavkovic
Mr. Mihaljo Bakrac for Mr. Vladimir Lazarevic
Mr. Theodore Scudder and Mr. Dragan Ivetic for Mr. Sreten Lukic

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 ("Tribunal") is seized of several motions seeking the delay of the proposed date for the start of the trial or, in the alternative, severance of the accused from the indictment and hereby renders its decision thereon.

1. On 7 September 2005, the Chamber denied Pavkovic’s motion to set aside the joinder of the cases or, in the alternative, to grant severance.¹ On 2 December 2005, the Chamber dismissed as premature a motion by Pavkovic to delay the proposed date for the start of the trial or, in the alternative, to sever him from the indictment.²
2. On 13 April 2006, Pavkovic requested the following: “that this Chamber grant him a remedy so that he can have a fair trial before this Tribunal. If the Tribunal is unable, for various considerations, to give him a fair trial the Indictment against him should be dismissed and/or he should be returned to Serbia under the provisions of Rue 11 bis"; "[i]f he is to be tried before this Tribunal" and "[i]f there is a determination to try all accused together", that the Chamber delay the start of the trial until early summer 2007 or sever him from the indictment and set a start date for his trial for early summer 2007. Pavkovic also seems to request additional resources in order to prepare his defence.³
3. Sainovic and Lazarevic have joined the Pavkovic Motion, thereby adopting all the arguments regarding the postponement of the trial as set forth therein.⁴ Ojdanic has joined the Pavkovic Motion and fully supports the arguments set forth by Pavkovic in support of a delay in the start of the trial.⁵ Milutinovic joined the Pavkovic Motion to delay the start of the trial, and advances further arguments for the delay of the proposed start date.⁶ Lukic joins the Pavkovic Motion, requests the Chamber to delay the start of the trial or, in the alternative, reconsider and grant severance of Lukic from the indictment, and advances additional arguments in support of his request for relief.⁷
4. The Chamber has carefully considered each and every argument of the accused, as has been set forth in their motions, and is satisfied that the accused will have adequate time and resources to prepare for the trial scheduled to commence on the date proposed in the work plan.⁸ Throughout the pre-trial phase of the proceedings, the Chamber has been continuously alert so that unfair prejudice will not be caused to the accused due to the lack of adequate time and resources for the preparation of their defences, and the Chamber will continue to monitor the progress of the case throughout the remainder of the pre-trial phase. Moreover, the Prosecution has offered to assist the Defence in relation to some of the issues raised in the motions,⁹ and the Chamber encourages the parties to continue to cooperate in this regard.
5. The Chamber notes that the Prosecution has not opposed the motions.
6. Pursuant to Articles 20 and 21 of the Statute of the Tribunal, Rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, and paragraph 7 of the Practice Direction on the Length of Briefs and Motions (IT/184/Rev. 2), the Chamber hereby DISMISSES the motions; GRANTS proprio motu an extension of the word limit to Pavkovic and Lukic; and DIRECTS the parties in future filings to comply with paragraphs 5, 7, and 8 of the Practice Direction on the Length of Briefs and Motions.

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

___________________________
Judge Robinson
Presiding

Dated this twenty-eighth day of April 2006,
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.

[Seal of the Tribunal]