IT-08-91-T D14985 - D14981 03 April 2012

14985
SF

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Case No. IT-08-91-T

IN TRIAL CHAMBER II

Before:

Judge Burton Hall, Presiding Judge Guy Delvoie Judge Frederik Harhoff Mr. John Hocking 3 April 2012 PROSECUTOR v. Mi}o STANI[I] Stojan @UPLJANIN

Registrar: Date filed:

PUBLIC
PROSECUTION AND DEFENCE JOINT MOTION RELATING TO THE SCHEDULING ORDER OF 30 MARCH 2012

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Joanna Korner Thomas Hannis Counsel for the Accused:

Slobodan Ze~evi} and Slobodan Cvijeti} for Mi}o Stani{i} Dragan Krgovi} and Aleksandar Aleksi} for Stojan @upljanin

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THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Case No. IT-08-91-T

PROSECUTOR v. MI]O STANI[I] STOJAN @UPLJANIN

PUBLIC

PROSECUTION AND DEFENCE JOINT MOTION RELATING TO THE SCHEDULING ORDER OF 30 MARCH 2012

I.

Introduction 1. On 30 March 2012, the Trial Chamber issued an Order on Final Trial Briefs and Closing Arguments (Order), ordering the parties to, inter alia, file their final briefs no later than 7 May 2012. 2. The Prosecution and the Defence of Mi}o Stani{i} and Stojan @upljanin respectfully submit that that parties will face serious difficulties and that the current deadline can only result in the filing of briefs that are likely to be unhelpful to the Trial Chamber in deliberating on matters in this case. 3. If the current deadline remains, during the crucial weeks leading to the filing of the briefs, the parties will be engaged in filing detailed written motions relating to the evidence. Whilst awaiting the Trial Chambers recent decisions, all parties have been working on the final briefs and are therefore in a position to assess how much further time is required. Moreover it is apparent from past experience that the final weeks prior to the filing of final briefs require the unobstructed attention of the parties.

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4. Therefore, the parties request a modification of the Scheduling Order, asking that the deadline be amended as set out below. II. Arguments 5. During an administrative hearing held on 18 January 2012, the Trial Chamber orally decided, inter alia, to grant the parties four (4) weeks from the closing of the evidence to file their respective final briefs.1 During this hearing, the parties raised their reservations about the timing in light of numerous pending matters.2 6. The Order now gives the parties five (5) weeks to file their briefs. However, the evidence is not closed and various matters still need to be finalized: a. Based on the Trial Chambers ruling of 29 March 2012, the Defence is likely to receive a considerable amount of material from the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Trial Chamber is still seized of the matter;3 b. The @upljanin Defence have filed a motion to re-open their case on 27 March 2012 and this matter is currently pending before the Trial Chamber.4 The @upljanin Defence are also considering whether to file an application to call one further witness; c. The Stani{i} and @upljanin Defence will be jointly filing by 12 April 2012 a significantly large motion relating to proof of death and has announced that the motion will be 200,000 words long.5 The Prosecution will need to reassign at least two lawyers to work on this filing and, given the scale of this undertaking, it will require two full weeks to respond to this filing. The Defence will need to review such response of the OTP so as to properly address it in their final trial briefs; d. The Stani{i} Defence will apply to re-open its case based on recently disclosed interviews6; and

T.26671-26672. T.26672-26675. 3 Prosecutor v. Stani{i} & @upljanin, Case No. IT-08-91-T, Invitation to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 29 March 2012. 4 Prosecutor v. Stani{i} & @upljanin, Case No. IT-08-91-T, @upljanin Motion to Reopen Defence Case, 27 March 2012. 5 T.26675. 6 In an email exchange between the Senior Legal Officer and the parties on 2 April 2012, Lead Counsel for Stani{i} indicated his intention to file a motion to re-open the case.
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e. The Prosecution filed on 3 April 2012 a motion seeking the reconsideration or certification of the Trial Chambers decision relating to the 5th rebuttal motion.7 The Defence intend to file a response to this motion. 7. Accordingly, it is clear that the evidence is not closed in this case and the parties will be unable to focus exclusively on the drafting of the final trial brief. In a case covering nine (9) months, 20 municipalities, 37 scheduled killing incidents and 52 detention facilities, the parties need to be given ample opportunity to fully and coherently articulate their arguments in the form of a comprehensive brief, one which will assist the Trial Chamber in its deliberations in this case. 8. The Trial Chamber may feel that this motion is premature and that the parties would be better placed if they assessed the situation when approaching the deadline. However, the parties are of the view that the better course is for the Trial Chamber to be informed at the earliest opportunity of the realistic challenges faced by the both the Prosecution and the Defence. 9. The parties consider that the evidence will be closed once all decisions are rendered in relation to motions to re-open the case, that the parties have had the opportunity to file their motions relating to proof of death8, and that motions, responses and a decision have been filed in relation to potential documents obtained from Bosnia and Herzegovina. III. Relief Sought 10. For the foregoing reasons, the Prosecution and the Defence for Mi}o Stani{i} and Stojan @upljanin respectfully request that the deadline for filing of Final Briefs be 29 May 2012, with final oral arguments to commence on 12 June 2012. They ask for an expedited ruling on this request. 11. The Prosecution and Defence also respectfully enquire whether questions relating to specific topics will be asked by the Trial Chamber during the final oral
Prosecution v. Stani{i} & @upljaninCase No. IT-08-91-T, Motion for Reconsideration or Certification of Decision Denying Prosecutions Fifth Motion Seeking Leave to Present Evidence in Rebuttal, 3 April 2012. 8 The Prosecution intends to file a detailed response to the Stani{i} motion which the Defence is invited to file by 12 April 2012.
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addresses or whether a separate hearing will be held for this purpose. If the former course is to be adopted, that would affect the time allowed for those addresses. Word Count: 1109

__________________ Slobodan Zeevi, Counsel for Mr. Mio Stanii

____________________ Joanna Korner Senior Trial Attorney

____________________ Slobodan Cvijeti Co-Counsel for Mr. Mio Stanii ____________________ ____________________ Dragan Krgovi Lead Counsel for Stojan upljanin Tom Hannis Senior Trial Attorney

____________________ Aleksandar Aleksi Co-Counsel for Mr. Stojan upljanin Dated this 3rd day of April 2012 At The Hague, Netherlands

Case No.: IT-08-91-T

3 April 2012