Case No. IT-95-9-T

IN TRIAL CHAMBER II

Before:
Judge Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba, Presiding

Judge Sharon A. Williams
Judge Per-Johan Viktor Lindholm

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Judgement of:
19 September 2002

PROSECUTOR
v.
BLAGOJE SIMIC
MIROSLAV TADIC
SIMO ZARIC

__________________________

DECISION

__________________________

 

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Mr. Gramsci Di Fazio
Mr. Philip Weiner
Mr. David Re

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Igor Pantelic and Mr. Srdjan Vukovic for Blagoje Simic
Mr. Novak Lukic and Mr. Dragan Krgovic for Miroslav Tadic
Mr. Borislav Pisarevic and Mr. Aleksandar Lazarevic for Simo Zaric

 

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"),

BEING SEISED OF the "Motion Requesting Extension of Time to Respond to Accuseds’ Motions for Acquittal Under Rule 98bis and to Exceed Page Limits Permitted for the Prosecution Response" ("Prosecution Motion") filed by the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecution") on 16 September 2002,

NOTING the "Defendant Blagoje Simic’s Motion for Judgement of Acquittal" filed on 13 September 2002, the "Motion for Judgement of Acquittal of the Accused Miroslav Tadic" ("Tadic Motion") filed confidentially on 13 September 2002 and the "Motion for Judgement of Acquittal filed by the Accused Simo Zaric pursuant to Rule 98bis" ("Zaric Motion") filed confidentially on 13 September 2002 (collectively "Motions"),

NOTING the Practice Direction on the Length of Briefs of 5 March 2002 (IT/184 Rev. 1), in particular, paragraph 5 which provides, inter alia, that "responses before a Chamber will not exceed 10 pages or 3,000 words, whichever is greater",

NOTING that the Prosecution Motion requests, (i) "an extra 10 pages for each Accused – a total of 60 pages" for the Prosecution’s response to the Motions and (ii) "an extension of time of seven days, to 27th of September 2002" to file the Prosecution’s response to the Motions,

NOTING the "Joint Defense Response to the Prosecutor’s Motion Requesting Extension of Time" ("Joint Response") filed jointly by the defence of Blagoje Simic, Miroslav Tadic and Simo Zaric (collectively, "Defence") on 18 September 2002,

NOTING ALSO that no reason or justification has been provided in the Tadic Motion and the Zaric Motion for the same to be filed on a "confidential" basis,

CONSIDERING that the Prosecution Motion demonstrates exceptional circumstances necessitating an oversized filing and good cause for an extension of time to file its response to the Motions,

CONSIDERING that the Defence in their Joint Response have stated that they "do not oppose the extension of time and page limits" requested in the Prosecution Motion,

CONSIDERING FURTHER that proceedings must be in public unless good cause is shown for the filing of a motion on a "confidential" basis,

CONSIDERING that there has been no good cause shown for the "confidential" filing of both the Tadic Motion and the Zaric Motion,

PURSUANT TO Rules 54 and 127 of the Rules and Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal,

HEREBY ORDERS that:

    1. the Prosecution may file its response to the Motions, not exceeding 20 pages or 6,000 words, whichever is greater, for each accused (i.e. a total of 60 pages or 18,000 words, whichever is greater);
    2. such response is to be filed by 27 September 2002; and

proprio motu,

ORDERS that the "confidentiality" of the Tadic Motion and the Zaric Motion is lifted.

 

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

_____________________________
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba
Presiding

Done this nineteenth day of September 2002,
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.

[Seal of the Tribunal]