TRIAL CHAMBER I

Public Document

DECISION ON FOFANA MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME PURSUANT TO RULE 7BIS

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

SEIZED OF the “Fofana Motion for Extension of Time Pursuant to Rule 7bis”, filed by Court Appointed Counsel for the Second Accused on the 26th of June 2006 (“Motion”),

NOTING the “Prosecution Response to ‘Fofana Motion for Extension of Time Pursuant to Rule 7bis”, filed by the Prosecution on the 27th of June 2006, not objecting to the Motion;

NOTING that Rule 7(C) of the Rules provides that any reply to the response shall be filed within five days, unless otherwise ordered;

CONSIDERING that the Motion requests an extension of time of four days to file the Reply to the “Prosecution Response to ‘Fofana Submissions Regarding Proposed Expert Witness Daniel J. Hoffman PhD’” (“Prosecution Response”) no later than on Friday, the 7th of July 2006, as opposed to the prescribed time limit of the 3rd of July 2006;

CONSIDERING that in support of their request for an extension of time, Court Appointed Counsel for the Second Accused submit that “the member of the defence team responsible for preparing the Reply is scheduled to travel on 29-30 June and again on 3-4 July”;

MINDFUL OF the rights of the Accused, and in particular of the provisions 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” and of Article 17(4)(c) of the Statute on the right “to be tried without undue delay”;

FINDING that in the present circumstances there do not exist good and sufficient cause or exceptional circumstances to grant an extension of time[1] to prepare the Reply to the Prosecution Response;

PURSUANT to Rules 7(C), 7bis, 26bis, 54 and 73 and of the Rules;

HEREBY DISMISSES THE MOTION.

Done in Freetown, Sierra Leone, this 27th day of June 2006.

[Seal of the Special Court for Sierra Leone]

[1] See, inter alia, Prosecutor against Norman, Fofana and Kondewa, Case No. SCSL-04-14-PT, “Kondewa-Decision on Defence Motion Requesting an Extension of Time Within Which to Respond to Prosecution’s Motion for Judicial Notice and Admission of Evidence”, the 30th of April 2004.