Tag Archives: Defence Counsel

ADC-ICTY Advocacy Training

Posted on by

Date: 16 April 2016

Location: training will take place at the premises of an international court

ADC-ICTY-300x300The Association of Defence Counsel practising before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY) will be holding an Advocacy Training day conducted by Ms. Colleen Rohan. Ms. Colleen Rohan has been practicing criminal defence for over 30 years. She has acted as defence counsel at the ICTY, the EULEX courts in Kosovo and domestically in the USA. She is a founding member of the International Criminal Law Bureau and a member of 9 Bedford Row International.

The topics which will be covered include drafting motions, final briefs and appeals.

Registration is open to all. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come, first served basis. The registration form is available here. 

For more information, see the flyer or visit the ADC-ICTY website.

ADC-ICTY Annual Conference 2015

Posted on by

ADC-ICTY-300x300The Association of Defence Counsel Practising before the ICTY and Representing Counsel before the MICT (ADC-ICTY) is pleased to announce its annual conference for 2015, on “The Situation of Defence Counsel at International Criminal Courts and Tribunals”.

Date: 5 December 2015

Time: 09:00 to 17:30

Location: Bel Air Hotel, Johan de Wittlaan 30, 2517 JR The Hague

This one-day conference will focus on the situation of Defence Counsel at International Criminal Courts and Tribunals and will feature four distinguished panels on various topics in relation to the role and importance of the Defence.

The Opening and Closing Remarks will be delivered by ADC-ICTY President, Colleen M. Rohan, and panellists include renowned Defence Counsel, Judges and representatives from various international criminal courts and tribunals.

Panel I: The Role of Defence Counsel at International Criminal Courts and Tribunals

Panel II: The Necessity of a Defence Office from the International and National Perspective

Panel III: The Importance of a Bar Association for International Criminal Courts and Tribunals

Panel IV: The Future of Defence Counsel on the International and National Level

Confirmed speakers:

Jens Dieckmann, Christopher Gosnell, Gregor Guy-Smith, Dragan Ivetić, Michael Karnavas, Xavier-Jean Keïta, Nina Kisić, Novak Lukić, Judge Howard Morrison, Judge Janet Nosworthy, Judge Alphons Orie, Fiana Reinhardt, Colleen Rohan, Héleyn Unac, Slobodan Zečević

Participation Fee: 35 Euros (including coffee breaks) for the general public,

20 Euros for ADC-ICTY members, students and unpaid interns.

Lunch is 15 Euros per person upon reservation.

Certificates for continuing legal education are available upon request.

For further information and to register please contact the ADC-ICTY Head Office at [email protected]

ADC-ICTY and ICLB Mock Trial

Posted on by

Dates: 6 July - 11 July 2015

Venue: ICTY, Churchillplein 1, 2517 JW The Hague

ADC-ICTY-300x300The Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia (ADC-ICTY) is organising another Mock Trial this year with the support of the International Criminal Law Bureau. The Mock Trial is a one-week event hosted by the ADC-ICTY in The Hague. The week includes hands-on evening sessions for young professionals in the field of international criminal law and a one-day Mock Trial exercise in the ICTY courtroom in front of ICTY Judges and Counsel.

The evening sessions focus on practical skills and expertise and are given by experienced Defence Counsel to prepare participants for a career in international criminal law. Topics include “legal drafting”, “oral trial advocacy”, “opening and closing statements” and “ethics in international criminal law”.  Participants will be requested to make written filings in teams as well as perform in the courtroom on the day of the Mock Trial.

Participants will be allocated to one Prosecution team and three Defence teams, or play one of the two witnesses or one of the three accused.

The deadline for applications is 15 May 2015. For application or any other queries, please contact the ADC-ICTY Head Office. For more information, see the Mock Trial Flyer and Programme 2015.

Event: ADC-ICTY Annual Training

Posted on by

ADC-ICTY-300x300On Saturday 8 November 2014, the Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ADC-ICTY) is organising its annual training for members. Due to the large success of the Legacy Conference last year, this year’s training will also be open to external participants. The training will focus on the important topic of “Ethics” and will feature three panel discussions on ethical issues during pre-trial, trial and appeal. Participants may also obtain a certificate for continuing legal education (CLE) purposes.

The training will take place at the Bel Air Hotel in The Hague and will be an all-day event from 9:00 to 17:00. All participants are invited to the annual party at Hudson’s Bar and Kitchen afterwards.

The training is free of charge. There are limited places available and to register, please send an email to [email protected] with your full name and current place of employment/study.

A detailed programme of the training is available here.

ICTY Association of Defence Counsel Newsletter no. 74

Posted on by

ADC-ICTY-300x300The Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY) has published its newsletter no. 75.

This edition covers the recent cases in Prli? et al., the Defence cases in Mladi? and Hadži? and the final briefs in Karadži?. In Karadži?, after the Trial Chamber denied the

Defence motion to strike the Prosecution’s final brief, the case is now reaching its final stages. The Defence closing arguments will be held from 29 September to 2 October and will be followed by the rebuttal and rejoinder arguments on 7 October, with an expected verdict in October 2015.

The newsletter looks back at various decisions or judgments rendered years ago by the ICC, the ICTR and the ICTY but keeps us up to date as well with the current proceedings in front of the Bosnian Constitutional Court, Croatian courts and the ICC in the Gbagbo case. The newsletter also provides an analysis on the Role and Future of Extremists Groups in the Region in relation to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

ICTY Association of Defence Counsel Newsletter no. 74

Posted on by

The Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY) has published its newsletter no. 74.

ADC-ICTY-300x300This edition covers the recent Defence cases in Mladić and Hadžić and the proceedings in Prlić et al.. In Hadžić, the ICTY Trial Chamber heard the Defence witnesses, including Goran Šehovac, a Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) soldier and military policeman, Ratko Adžić, President of Ilijas municipality, Milorad Bukva Head of the Security Department in the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps (SRK), Milenko Inđić, VRS Liaison Officer for Cooperation with International Organisations, Boško Gvozden, former Commander of the Gradiška Light Infantry Brigade of the VRS, and Radovan Glogovac, Vice-President of the local Serbian Democratic Party.

The newsletter provides analysis on two high-level discussions organized by the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in collaboration with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) on “The Use of Military Evidence in Counter-Terrorism” and with the Grotius Centre and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) on “Illegal Armed Force as a Crime against Humanity”.

The newsletter looks back at various decisions or judgments rendered years ago by the STL, the ICTY and the ICTR but keeps us up to date as well with the current proceedings in front of the Bosnian Constitutional Court, the ICC and the ECCC.

Latest Newsletter of the ICTY Association of Defence Counsel

Posted on by

The Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY) has published its newsletter no. 73.

ADC-ICTY-300x300

This edition covers the recent Defence cases in Mladić and Hadžić  and the proceedings in Stanišić & Župljanin where the ICTY Appeals Chamber dismissed the motion that called for reconsideration of the Appeals decision based on the alleged direct correlation of the Šešelj Decision regarding Judge Harhoff.

The newsletter provides a copy of the memorandum sent by the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to a proposal from the ICC’s Registry to restructure. A proposed argument of interpretation of drones in the legal context is also provided.

The newsletter looks back at various decisions or judgments rendered years ago by the ECCC, the ICTR and the ICTY but keeps us up to date as well with the current proceedings in front of the ICC, the STL and the ECCC.

Guantánamo: Resignation on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s Defence team

Posted on by

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s defence team lost a member earlier this week. On 26 March 2014, after nine years in the US Army, Major Wright tendered his resignation. Tuesday 26 August 2014 was Wright’s last day as appointed counsel for Mohammed.

Mohammed pretrial hearings

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during the third day of pretrial hearings at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Oct. 17, 2012 ©Janet Hamlin/Reuters,Reuter MED/MED

Wright was appointed in December 2011 to the defence of Mohammed, the purported mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and executioner of journalist Daniel Pearl who is facing, along with three co-defendants, death sentence if convicted. Captured in Pakistan in 2003, Mohammed was first held at various CIA black sites before being transferred to Guantánamo in 2006. He is one of the two al Qaeda prisoners on whom the CIA publicly confirmed in 2008 waterboarding was used.

While Wright’s resignation cannot directly evidence the Army’s intent to remove him from the team, it only contributes to further diminish the appearance of legitimacy of the Guantánamo military commissions. Wright decided to leave the Army as he was not able to continue his defence work: required to attend a nine-month graduate program in military law, Wright was denied a deferral. The choice was clear-cut: either quit Mohammed’s defence team and attend the graduate program, or resign from the Army. In conflict with his ethical obligation to continue representing his client, after a long period of building trust with a client who was tortured and guarded by people wearing the same uniform as him, Wright eventually quit. Continue reading →

STL Does Not Have Jurisdiction for Contempt Cases Against Legal Persons

Posted on by

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Last week, the Contempt Judge Nicola Lettieri issued a Decision on a Motion Challenging the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s jurisdiction. The motion was submitted by the Defence for NEW TV S.A.L and Karma Hohamed Tahsin Al Khayat and questioned whether the Tribunal could hear cases of contempt and obstructions against the proper administration of justice by legal persons (i.e. corporate entities).

The Contempt Judge ruled that although the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) does not have jurisdiction to hear cases dealing with obstructions of justice against legal persons, it does retain jurisdiction to hear cases dealing with offences against the administration of justice against natural persons. This was held to be consistent not only with international case law, but also with Rule 60bis of the STL’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence.

Last year, information relating to confidential witnesses has been broadcasted in certain medias.

Following these events, the Registrar of the Tribunal appointed an amicus curiae. Based on reports by the amicus, the Contempt Judge concluded that there was prima facie evidence that justified proceedings for contempt.

Two journalists and two media organisations have been subsequently charged with contempt before the Tribunal.

Newsletter of the ICTY Association of Defence Counsel

Posted on by

ADC ICTYThe Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY) has published its newsletter. This edition covers the recent proceedings in the Šešelj case where the ICTY Appeals Chamber upheld the decision of the Trial Chamber to continue the proceedings against Šešelj as soon as the newly appointed judge to the case, Judge Niang, will have finished familiarising himself with the record of the case.

The newsletter also looks back at various decisions or judgements rendered years ago by the ECCC, the ICTR and the ICTY but keeps us up to date as well with the current proceedings in front of the ICC, the STL and the ECCC.

You will also find in the newsletter analyses of recent conferences, among which figures a lecture on the ICC in the Chinese Context. An analysis of the recent book launch in The Hague on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is also provided.