Case No. IT-97-24-PT

IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER

Before:
Judge Almiro Rodrigues, Presiding
Judge Fouad Riad
Judge Patricia Wald

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
14 November 2001

THE PROSECUTOR

v.

MILOMIR STAKIC

_______________________________________________________

DECISION ON PROSECUTION’S MOTION FOR VARIATION OF LENGTH OF PRE-TRIAL BRIEF

_______________________________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Ms. Susan Somers

Defence Counsel:

Mr. Branko Lukic

 

TRIAL CHAMBER I ("the 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 ("the Tribunal"),

SEISED OF the "Prosecution’s Motion for Variation of Length of Pre-Trial Brief" filed on 22 October 2001 ("the Motion"), in which the Prosecution asks for authorization to file a pre-trial brief of 100 pages instead of the 50 pages stipulated in the Practice Direction on the Length of Briefs and Motions, Document IT/184, issued on 19 January 2001 ("the Practice Direction");

NOTING the submissions of the Prosecution that in "a political leadership case set out in a fourteen-count indictment that includes inter alia the charges of genocide and complicity in genocide1", a pre-trial brief of 50 pages is inadequate to "(a) summarize the evidence from the substantial number of documents which require a detailed discussion of linkage to crime based; (b) outline the form of responsibility incurred by the accused; and, (c) state its legal position, particularly in light of the need to set forth the arguments on genocide2";

CONSIDERING that a party seeking authorisation to exceed the page limits set out in the Practice Direction must provide an explanation of the exceptional circumstances that necessitate the oversized filing; that the explanation provided by the Prosecution in the above-mentioned points (a), (b) and (c) for requesting an oversized filing is not satisfactory as the Prosecution must in all cases summarize its evidence, outline the form of responsibility incurred by the accused and state its legal position;

FINDING that no exceptional circumstances have been made out;

HEREBY DENIES the Motion.

 

Done in English.

___________
Almiro Rodrigues
Presiding Judge

Dated this fourteenth day of November 2001,
At The Hague
The Netherlands.

[Seal of the Tribunal]


1 - The Motion, para. 6.
2 - The Motion, p. 5.

   

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