TRIAL CHAMBER I

Public Document

ORDER IN RELATION TO KALLON DEFENCE MOTION FOR EXTENSION TO THE PAGE LIMIT OF ITS FINAL TRIAL BRIEF

TRIAL CHAMBER I (“Chamber”) of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (“Special Court”) composed of Hon. Justice Pierre Boutet, Presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Bankole Thompson and Hon. Justice Benjamin Mutanga Itoe;

SEIZED of the Kallon Urgent Application for Page Extension in Respect of Final Brief filed by Counsel for the Second Accused, Morris Kallon, (“Kallon Defence”) on the 21st of July 2008 (“Kallon Motion”);

HAVING RECEIVED the Prosecution Response to Kallon Urgent Application for Page Extension in Respect of Final Brief filed on the 22nd of July 2008 (“Response”);

HAVING RECEIVED the Kallon Defence Reply to Prosecution Response to Kallon Application for Page Extension in Respect of Final Brief filed on the 24th of July 2008;

NOTING that Art. 6(B) of the Practice Direction on Filing Documents Before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, adopted on the 27th of February 2003, amended on the 1st of June 2004, the 10th of June 2005 and the 16th of January 2008 (“Practice Direction”), provides, inter alia that “final trial submissions shall not exceed 200 pages or 60,000 words, whichever is greater”;

MINDFUL of the submissions of the Kallon Defence regarding the length of the final trial briefs made before the Chamber at the Status Conference held on the 12th of March 2008;[1]

MINDFUL of our Order for the Filing of Final Trial Briefs and Presentation of Closing Arguments filed on the 29th of April 2008;

CONSIDERING that the Kallon Defence requests an extension of the page limit for its final trial brief from 400 to 600 pages;

CONSIDERING our Order in Relation to Sesay Defence and Prosecution Motions for Extensions to the Page Limits of their Final Trial Briefs, filed on the 23rd of July 2008 (“Sesay and Prosecution Order”);

CONSIDERING that the case against the Second Accused is relatively smaller than the case against the First Accused, who had the page limit for his final brief extended from 400 to 500 pages pursuant to our Sesay and Prosecution Order;

CONSIDERING, however, that the case against the Second Accused still involves legal issues of considerable complexity;

CONSIDERING all relevant factors that may be taken into account when filing final trial briefs and having reviewed the practice of other international tribunals on this issue;

CONSIDERING that it is in the interests of justice and in keeping with the conduct of a fair and expeditious trial, for the Chamber to grant an extension of the page limit set out in our Order for the Filing of Final Trial Briefs and Presentation of Closing Arguments;

PURSUANT TO Rules 26bis, 54 and 86 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Special Court;

HEREBY ORDERS as follows:

1. The length of the final trial brief filed by the Kallon Defence shall not exceed 450 pages, including any headings, footnotes and quotations.
   

[1] Transcript of 12 March 2008, Kennedy Ogeto, pp. 50 – 59.