TRIAL CHAMBER I

Public Document

ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO THE SECOND ACCUSED TO FILE
ADMISSIONS OF FACT AND STATEMENT OF MATTERS NOT IN DISPUTE

TRIAL CHAMBER I (“The 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;
MINDFUL OF the “Consequential Order to the Status Conference of 22 March, 2006” filed on the 23rd of March, 2006 (“Order”), ordering, inter alia, Court Appointed Counsel for all three Accused persons to “file with the Court admissions by the Parties and a statement of other matters which are not in dispute, by the 3rd of April, 2006, at 1 p.m.”;

SEIZED OF the “Fofana Request for Extension of Time to File Admissions of Fact and Statement of Matters Not in Dispute” filed by Court Appointed Counsel for the Second Accused (“Counsel for Fofana”) on the 29th of March, 2006 (“Motion for Extension of Time”);

CONSIDERING that Counsel for Fofana requests that they be permitted to file their admissions of fact and statement of matters not in dispute after the 10th of April, 2006 on the basis that they are “currently considering proposed admissions of fact recently submitted informally by the Office of the Prosecutor” and that such proposed admissions will be discussed at the meetings which have been scheduled for the week of the 3rd of April, 2006 in the Netherlands, in order to take a final decision on drafts already in preparation;[1]

MINDFUL OF the rights of the Accused, and in particular of the provision of Article 17(4)(b) of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (“Statute”) on the right “to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his or her defence”;

NOTING that the Special Court will observe a judicial recess from Monday, the 10th of April, 2006 until Monday, the 24th of April, 2006, “during which period the Court Management Section of the Registry will not accept any documents for filing”;[2]

NOTING that the seventh trial session in this case is scheduled to commence on the 3rd of May, 2006 with a preceding Status Conference on the 2nd of May, 2006;

CONSIDERING that the request for an extension of time is reasonable given the present circumstances and, in particular, that the seventh trial session will commence with the continuing presentation of the Defence case for the First Accused;

PURSUANT to Article 17(4)(b) of the Statute and Rules 7bis and 54 of the Rules;

HEREBY GRANTS the Motion for Extension of Time;

AND, CONSEQUENTLY

ORDERS Counsel for Fofana to comply with the Order and file the admissions by the Prosecution and the Second Accused and a statement of other matters which are not in dispute by the 25th of April, 2006, at 11:00 a.m.

Done in Freetown, Sierra Leone, this 31st day of March, 2006.

[Seal of the Special Court for Sierra Leone]

[1] Motion for Extension of Time, para 2.
[2] Order of the President of the Special Court “Order Designating Judicial Recess”, of 20 January, 2006.