Case No.: IT-05-87-PT

IN TRIAL CHAMBER III

Before:
Judge Iain Bonomy, Pre-trial Judge

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Order of:
5 April 2006

PROSECUTOR

v.

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

_________________________________________________

PRE-TRIAL ORDER AND APPENDED WORK PLAN

_________________________________________________

Office of the Prosecutor

Mr. Thomas Hannis
Ms. Christina Moeller
Mr. Chester Stamp
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

 

I, IAIN BONOMY, a Judge 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”),

NOTING that the prior indictments, from separate cases that were joined to form this case, were confirmed on 29 June 2001 and 2 October 2003,1 and that the Accused made initial appearances before the Tribunal on the following dates:

Milan Milutinoivc: 27 January 2003;2

Nikola Sainovic: 3 May 2002;3

Dragoljub Ojdanic: 26 April 2002;4

Nebojsa Pavkovic: 28 April 2005;5

Vladimir Lazarevic: 7 February 2005;6

Sreten Lukic: 6 April 2005,7

NOTING that all of the Accused have been represented by counsel for varying , but significant, amounts of time,8

NOTING the recent Rule 65 ter conference, held on 30 March 2006, and status conference, held on 31 March 2006, at which the parties made substantial progress in principle toward bringing this case to trial,

NOTING, however, that counsel for the Accused stated that trial in this case should not commence in the summer of 2006 for a variety of reasons, including: the current lack of a finalised indictment; the fact that the case has yet to be assigned to a particular Chamber for trial; the additional time that the Prosecution has had, relative to the Accused, to prepare for trial; the large volume of material the Prosecution has disclosed to date; the volume of ongoing disclosure of material from the Milosevic case; and the Prosecution’s stated intention to propose between 40 and 50 additional witnesses,9

NOTING the statements, of counsel for Dragoljub Ojdanic10 and Nebojsa Pavkovic,11 that the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (“UNMIK”) has not yet permitted Defence counsel to enter Kosovo, or has not provided safety assurances, so that counsel might interview potential Defence witnesses,

CONSIDERING, with regard to the Defence objections to trial commencing this summer, that: the bulk of the indictment already is in finalised form and the Trial Chamber will take account of the proximity of trial in addressing the proposed redactions ; the identity of the trial bench is immaterial to the conduct of the pre-trial phase of this case, which is being proactively managed; the large volume of ongoing disclosure, and the fact that the Prosecution has had more time than the Defence to prepare for trial, are characteristics of most proceedings and do not justify further delay here; the Prosecution’s mere indication of an intention to propose additional witnesses does not warrant a postponement of trial at this time,

CONSIDERING, with regard to the statements concerning UNMIK, that I, having been alerted to this potential problem, will now take such steps as I can to facilitate Defence preparations,

CONSIDERING that my efforts in facilitating trial preparation would be assisted by Defence counsel identifying the particular difficulties they have faced in attempting to interview witnesses in Kosovo,

CONSIDERING that Rule 65 ter(D)(ii) provides that the “pre-trial Judge shall establish a work plan indicating, in general terms, the obligations that the parties are required to meet pursuant to Stheir responsibility to prepare for trialC , and the dates by which these obligations must be fulfilled”, and that it is now time for such a work plan to be issued so this case can swiftly and fairly be brought to trial,

PURSUANT to Rules 54 and 65 ter(D)(ii),

HEREBY ORDER that:

(1) a Rule 65 ter conference shall be held on 26 April 2006;

(2) the Prosecution shall file, no later than 10 May 2006, its pre-trial brief, which shall conform to the requirements of Rule 65 ter(E)(i);

(3) the Prosecution shall file, no later than 10 May 2006, its witness and exhibit lists , which shall conform to the requirements of Rules 65 ter(E)(ii) and (iii ) and which shall indicate, with respect to each witness, the exhibit(s) the witness will offer in evidence. The lists shall also indicate, with respect to each exhibit , the witness who will offer the exhibit in evidence. With regard to each proposed viva voce witness, the Prosecution shall indicate whether the witness will offer written evidence pursuant to Rule 89(F). With regard to each proposed Rule 92 bis witness, the Prosecution shall indicate whether it believes the witness should attend for cross-examination;

(4) a Rule 65 ter conference shall be held on 18 May 2006;

(5) the Prosecution shall file, no later than 26 May 2006, its motion(s) to admit written evidence pursuant to Rule 92 bis, in accordance with the witness and exhibit lists filed by 10 May 2006;

(6) the Defence teams shall file, no later than 6 June 2006, their pre-trial briefs, which shall conform to the requirements of Rule 65 ter(F);

(7) the Pre-Trial Conference shall be held on 7 July 2006;

(8) the parties shall make all reasonable efforts to adhere to the appended Work Plan ; and

(9) counsel for the Accused shall have seven (7) days from the date of this Order to file, if they wish, submissions identifying (a) specific individuals they desire to interview in Kosovo, (b) communications they have had with UNMIK regarding such desired interviews and (c) all other relevant information regarding this issue.

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

______________________________
Iain Bonomy
Pre-trial Judge

Dated this fifth day of April 2006.
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.

[Seal of the Tribunal]


APPENDIX: WORK PLAN FOR PROSECUTOR v. MILUTINOVIC ET AL.

5 April 2006:

With a view to eventually filing a joint submission, which shall indicate the matters of fact and law on which the parties agree, as well as the matters on which they disagree and why, from now on the parties should conduct whatever meetings and exchanges of correspondence are needed to file, at a date which will be determined in due course, a comprehensive joint submission. Meetings, in terms of Rules 65 ter(I) and (H), will be held as and when appropriate in order to facilitate this process.

26 April 2006:

Rule 65 ter conference.
10 May 2006:

Deadline for Prosecution to file its pre-trial brief, which shall conform to the requirements of Rule 65 ter(E)(i).
Deadline for Prosecution to file its witness and exhibit lists, which shall conform to the requirements of Rules 65 ter(E)(ii) and (iii) and which shall indicate, with respect to each witness, the exhibit(s) the witness will offer in evidence. The lists shall also indicate, with respect to each exhibit , the witness who will offer the exhibit in evidence. With regard to each proposed viva voce witness, the Prosecution shall indicate whether the witness will offer written evidence pursuant to Rule 89(F). With regard to each proposed Rule 92 bis witness, the Prosecution shall indicate whether it believes the witness should attend for cross-examination.

18 May 2006:

Rule 65 ter conference.

26 May 2006:

Deadline for Prosecution to file motion(s) to admit written evidence pursuant to Rule 92 bis in accordance with the witness and exhibit lists filed by 10 May 2006.

6 June 2006:

Deadline for Defence teams to file their pre-trial briefs, which shall conform to the requirements of Rule 65 ter(F).

30 June 2006:

Deadline for return of all Accused on provisional release to the United Nations Detention Unit in The Hague.

7 July 2006:

Pre-Trial Conference.

10 July 2006:

Commencement of trial.


1 - See Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al. and Prosecutor v. Pavkovic et al., Case Nos. IT-99-37-PT and IT-03-70-PT, Decision on Prosecution Motion for Joinder, 8 July 2005, p. 2 (“NOTING that an amended indictment in the Milutinovic et al. case was confirmed by Judge David Hunt on 29 June 2001 and . . . that the Indictment in the Pavkovic et al. case was confirmed by Judge O-Gon Kwon on 2 October 2003”.) (emphasis in original).
2 - Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-99-37-I, Transcript at p. 455 (27 January 2003).
3 - Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-99-37-I, Transcript at p. 391 (3 May 2002).
4 - Prosecutor v Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-99-37-I, Transcript at p. 385 (26 April 2002).
5 - Prosecutor v. Pavkovic et al., Case No. IT-03-70-I, Transcript at p. 29 (28 April 2005).
6 - Prosecutor v. Pavkovic et al., Case No. IT-03-70-I, Transcript at p. 1 (7 February 2005).
7 - Prosecutor v. Pavkovic et al., Case No. IT-03-70-I, Transcript at p. 24 (6 April 2005).
8 - The most recently-added lead counsel was assigned on 13 June 2005, see Prosecutor v. Pavkovic et al., Case No. IT-03-70-PT, Decision by the Deputy Registrar re: Assignment of Mr. Ackerman as Counsel for Mr. Pavkovic, 13 June 2005, whereas the longest-serving lead counsel was assigned on 5 May 2002. See Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-99-37-PT, Decision by the Registrar Regarding Assignment of Mr. Tomislav Visnjic as Counsel for Mr. Dragoljub Ojdanic, 17 September 2002 (indicating that Mr. Visnjic was first assigned on 10 May 2002); Decision by the Deputy Registrar Regarding Temporary Assignment of Mr. Toma Fila as Counsel for Mr. Nikola Sainovic, 10 May 2002.
9 - See generally Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-05-87-PT, Transcript of Status Conference, at pp. 187-201 (31 March 2006).
10 - Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-05-87-PT, Transcript of Rule 65 ter Conference, at pp. 170-171 (30 March 2006).
11 - Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-05-87-PT, Transcript of Status Conference, at pp. 196-197 (31 March 2006).