Case No. IT-95-12-S

Prosecutor v. Ivica Rajic

DECISION

THE 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 and in particular Rules 44 and 45 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 14, 16(C) and 19(A) thereof;

NOTING the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the International Tribunal ("Code of Conduct");

CONSIDERING that on 25 June 2003, at the request of Mr Ivica Rajic (“Accused”), the Registry assigned Mr Željko Olujic as lead counsel to the Accused and that on 20 November 2003, the Registry assigned Ms Doris Kosta as Mr Olujic’s co-counsel;

CONSIDERING that on 12 May 2005, the Accused requested that Mr Olujic be withdrawn as lead counsel and replaced by Ms Kosta and that on 17 May 2005, Registry representatives met with the Accused and requested that he provide the Registry with a detailed explanation of his request for Mr Olujic’s withdrawal;

CONSIDERING that on 23 May 2005, the Registry requested Mr Olujic’s comments in relation to the Accused’s request for his withdrawal and that Mr Olujic confirmed the Accused’s request and stated that the “defence has been taken over by my colleague Ms Kosta";

CONSIDERING that in a correspondence dated 6 June 2005, the Registry reminded Mr Olujic of his obligation to continue acting on the Accused’s behalf further to Articles 8(A) and 9(C) of the Code of Conduct until such time as his assignment is withdrawn by the Registry;

CONSIDERING that on 16 June 2005, the Registry received the Accused’s written explanation of his request for Mr Olujic’s withdrawal, whereupon the Registry commenced an inquiry into whether Mr Olujic’s withdrawal was justified;

CONSIDERING that Ms Kosta has indicated to the Registry that she was unable to file an appeal of the decision of the Trial Chamber denying the Accused’s provisional release because she did not receive an Order of the President dated 15 August 2005, in which the Accused was given seven days within which to brief his appeal to the Trial Chamber’s decision;

CONSIDERING that on 10 October 2005, the Registry solicited Mr Olujic’s comments in respect of his apparent failure to act on the Accused’s behalf by filing an appeal to the Trial Chamber’s decision denying the Accused’s provisional release, and that the Registry re-iterated to Mr Olujic his duty to act on the Accused’s behalf and further to Article 11 of the Code of Conduct, to do so "diligently and promptly";

CONSIDERING that in his reply dated 17 October 2005, Mr Olujic stated that he was on vacation during the month of August 2005 and that upon returning to his office on 29 August 2005 he discovered that his fax machine was not working properly;

CONSIDERING the plea agreement between the Accused and the Office of the Prosecutor dated 25 October 2005 and that the negotiations preceding the agreement were conducted by Ms Kosta on behalf of the Accused;

CONSIDERING that during the Accused’s plea hearing of 26 October 2005, the Accused referred to Mr Olujic obstructing “the preparation of ShisC defence" and transmitting documents from the Accused’s case to individuals "working against [the Accused], against justice, and against StheC Tribunal";

CONSIDERING the nature of the allegations that have been raised against Mr Olujic by the Accused and that it appears that Mr Olujic has stopped advising and representing the Accused further to his obligation under Article 8 of the Code of Conduct;

NOTING that the Registry reserves the right to conduct an investigation into the allegations raised against Mr Olujic and if justified, to file a complaint against Mr Olujic under the Code of Conduct;

NOTING that following the amendments to the Directive in July 2004, Ms Kosta has not applied for re-admission to the Rule 45 list of counsel eligible to represent indigent accused and as such, the Registry is not in a position to determine whether she fulfills the new qualification requirements;

CONSIDERING however, that Ms Kosta has been representing the Accused as co-counsel since 20 November 2003 and that given the current stage of the procedure, it would be in the best interest of the Accused as well as in the interests of justice to continue her assignment until the completion of the sentencing phase of the proceedings;

DECIDES to withdraw Mr Olujic’s assignment as counsel effective as of the date of this decision and to continue Ms Kosta’s assignment as counsel in the interests of justice until the completion of the sentencing phase of the proceedings;

DIRECTS Mr Olujic to hand over any case-related materials he received during his assignment, to Ms Kosta in accordance with his duty under Article 9(D) of the Code of Conduct.

 

Hans Holthuis
Registrar

Dated this fifth day of December 2005
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.