Opening Remarks of Judge Jorda

Judge Jorda, the presiding judge of the three member Pre-Trial Chamber emphasised in his opening remarks that the hearing was not a trial, that all motions would in general be dealt with orally and that the hearing would be open to the public, only exceptionally going into closed session. The Chamber underlined its intention to adhere to this principle when the Defence made an application on the first day for an issue to be dealt with in closed session. Initially the Chamber was reluctant allow this request, only concurring when the Defence indicated the issue had an ‘impact on the security of his team’ and concerned its ‘relationship’ with the Prosecution.

In his opening remarks Judge Jorda emphasised the responsibilities of Defence counsel under Article 24 of the ICC Code of Conduct to ensure his actions are ‘not prejudicial to the ongoing proceedings and do not bring the Court into disrepute’ and not to ‘deceive or knowingly mislead the Court’.  Likewise the obligations of the Prosecution under Rule 6 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE) to perform its duties ‘honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously, respecting the confidentiality of investigations and prosecutions’ were mentioned.

Exchanges between Prosecution and Defence during the opening day of the hearing indicated a certain lack of trust between the parties. The Defence accused the Prosecution of trying to obstruct justice (during a search and seizure operation) and ‘hiding information that would exonerate my client’. The Prosecution countered by alleging that the Defence was misstating the facts.

During the hearing the presiding judge reminded both Defence and Prosecution of the Code of Conduct and their ethical obligations under their national jurisdictions respectively. In particular the judge emphasised that as a general rule he did not like interruptions being made while one party was speaking, that ‘he did not want constant replies and rejoinders’ and that he (as the presiding judge) was ‘leading debates’.

Judge Jorda also made clear that he wished the schedule to be adhered to as far as possible, though allowing for some flexibility. During the hearing he warned counsel when they had exhausted the time allocated for a certain part of the proceedings, emphasising it was up to them to make use of the time allocated as they saw fit.

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