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Plenary changes allow national jurisdictions to try suspects

Suspects indicted by the Tribunal can now be tried by national jurisdictions following amendments to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Rules of Procedure by last week's plenary of judges in Arusha, reports the independent news agency, Hirondelle.

In a press conference highlighting the plenary discussions, ICTR spokesperson Nigerian, Kingsley Moghalu denied that the changes were expressly a response to the Rwandan government's call for trials to be held in that country. "The changes are a response to the experience that the Tribunal has had," he stated.

The plenary of judges sat over the weekend. Moghalu said that a new rule '10 bis' now allows reverse referral whereby the authorities of the state where a suspect is arrested to prosecute an accused person.

This rule also allows authorities of another state to prosecute, as long as the authorities of the arresting state do not object and if the arresting or receiving state have jurisdiction over the accused.

Moghalu said that the changes by the plenary were "inspired by the notion of universal jurisdiction" and were in line with the ICTR Prosecutor's strategy of completing trials by 2008.

In addition to this rule, the ICTR spokespersons said rule '45 ter' had been amended to ensure suspects did not reject lawyers provided for by the Tribunal and then unduly delay trial.

The other key change, according to Moghalu, is that rule '92 bis' will now provide for proof of fact other than the oral testimony. The rule will allow for consideration of written statements not dealing with acts or conduct of the accused as per the indictment. The statements could be dealing with relevant historical, military background and general statistical analysis.

Moghalu said this is a potentially important rule that would speed up trial by significantly reducing time in court.

Another important element is the introduction of a new 'Article 5 bis' on the code of professional conduct for defence counsel. Moghalu said it was now clear and explicit in writing that fee splitting was illegal. "It is also clear that it includes but is not limited to financial arrangements," he said.

The ICTR spokesman also said that gifts from defence lawyers to the accused would be permitted in limited circumstances and with permission from the Tribunal.

In total, he said, the plenary dealt with 18 amendments in rules of procedure and evidence and one in the code of conduct of defence lawyers.

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Last modified: July 12, 2002.
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