Independence of the Prosecution

Notion(s) Filing Case
Decision on Reducing Time for the Prosecution Case - 06.02.2007 PRLIĆ et al.
(IT-04-74-AR73.4)

20. […] [T]he Appeals Chamber reiterates that the imposition of time limits in a trial – whether calculated in months or hours – is entirely the prerogative of the Trial Chamber. The true intent and extent of the independence accorded to the Prosecutor under Article 16 of Statute is to ensure that no “government or other institution or person, including the Judges of the Tribunal, can direct the Prosecutor as to whom he or she is to investigate or to charge.”[1] The Appeals Chamber maintains that it is erroneous for the Prosecution to suggest that its independence extends to the way in which its case is to be presented before a Trial Chamber.[2]

[1] Milošević Decision to Impose Time Limit, para. 12.

[2] Ibid., para. 13.

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