Case No. IT-03-67-PT
IN TRIAL CHAMBER II
Before:
Judge Carmel Agius, Presiding
Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti
Judge Kevin Parker
Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis
Order of:
4 February 2004
PROSECUTOR
v.
VOJISLAV SESELJ
_________________________________
DECISION ON PROSECUTION’S REQUEST TO EXCEED THE TEN PAGE LIMIT FOR MOTIONS
The Office of the Prosecutor:
Ms. Hildegaard Uertz-Retzlaff
Mr. Ulrich Mussemeyer
Mr. Daniel Saxon
The Accused:
Vojislav Seselj
Standby counsel:
Aleksandar Lazarevic
TRIAL CHAMBER II ("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 SEIZED OF the "Prosecution’s Request to Exceed the Ten Page Limit for Responses to Motions" of 26 January 2004 ("Request");
NOTING the "Objection to the Indictment", submitted by the Accused in B/C/S on 31 December 2003 and officially filed together with the forty-four page English version on 15 January 2004 ("Motion");
NOTING that in the Request, the Prosecution requests the Trial Chamber to "issue an order granting permission to the Prosecution to file a response to the [M]otion not exceeding fifteen pages";
NOTING that paragraph 5 of the "Practice Direction on Length of Briefs and Motions"1 ("Practice Direction") provides that "[m]otions and replies and responses before a Chamber will not exceed 10 pages or 3,000 words, whichever is greater";
NOTING that the Prosecution filed its "Prosecution’s Response to the Accused’s ‘Objection to the Indictment’" comprising fifteen pages2 on 29 January 2004 ("Response") despite not having received a written decision by this Trial Chamber as the Response was due on that date;
CONSIDERING that, under paragraph 7 of the Practice Direction, the Trial Chamber may give authorization to a party to exceed the specified page limit if the party
CONSIDERING that the Prosecution in its Request sought an extension of the page limit in advance on the basis that this extension is necessary to respond to the number of complex legal issues raised in the Motion, which itself exceeds the normal page limit as authorized by this Trial Chamber(3);
CONSIDERING that the volume and complexity of the Motion constitute exceptional circumstances that justify an extension of the page limit;
FINDING that there are exceptional circumstances for giving such authorization in this case;
EMPHASISING that this finding is in accordance with the rights of the Accused and the principle of equality of arms;
ACCEPTS the "Prosecution’s Response to the Accused’s ‘Objection to the Indictment’" as having been validly filed in respect of the Accused Vojsilav Seselj with the authorization of the Trial Chamber.
Done in French and English, the English version being authoritative.
Dated this 4th day of February 2004,
At The Hague
The Netherlands
____________
Carmel Agius
Presiding Judge
[Seal of the Tribunal]
Home | Terms & Conditions | About
Copyright © 1999- WorldCourts. All rights reserved.