Defence Counsel: "Réponse de la Défense à l'invitation de la Chambre de Première Instance à présenter des conclusions sur des questions devant être tranchées à un stade précoce de la procédure" – 7 August 2007 (ICC-01/04-01/06-940)

In response to the Request by the Trial Chamber on 18 July 2007 Ms Catherine Mabille, Defence Counsel for Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, filed the "Réponse de la Défense à l'invitation de la Chambre de Première Instance à présenter des conclusions sur des questions devant être tranchées à un stade précoce de la procédure" on 7 August 2007.

As legal foundation for its submissions the Defence referred to Article 67 of the Rome Statute in which the rights of the accused are set out. Article 67 (1b) of the Statute specifies that the accused is entitled to have “adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence and to communicate freely with counsel of the accused’s choice in confidence”. The Defence also referred to Articles 64 (2) and (3) on the basis of which the Trial Chamber is bound to facilitate the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings.

In support of its submission the Defence advanced the following arguments to Trial Chamber I:

-          The Lead Counsel was appointed on 21 June 2007. At the time of writing Ms. Mabille was assisted by one case manager and one legal assistant. The Co-Counsel was yet to be appointed and a second legal assistant would take office on 1 September 2007;

-          The proposed hearing of 11 September 2007 would include the discussion of issues 6C on the timing and manner of evidence disclosure and 6D on the E-Court Protocol. These matters were considered to be substantially connected to the strategy of the Defence;

-          The proposed hearing of 25 September would include the discussion of issues 7E, 7D and 7G on the role of victims, the procedures for instructing expert witnesses and the approach to witness familiarisation and proofing. These matters were considered to require a full comprehension of the dossier.