Defence
ABOUT THE DEFENCE OFFICE

The Defence Office

The Defence Office is one of the four organs of the Special Tribunal. The work of the Defence Office is governed primarily by the Statute of the Special Tribunal. Article 13 of the Statute provides that “the Defence Office, which may also include one or more public defenders, shall protect the rights of the defence, provide support and assistance to defence counsel and to the persons entitled to legal assistance, including, where appropriate, legal research, collection of evidence and advice, and appearing before the Pre-Trial Judge or a Chamber in respect of specific issues.”

Head of the Defence Office
 
On 9 March 2009, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in consultation with the President of the Tribunal, Judge Antonio Cassese, appointed François Roux (Admitted to the Bar 1962, France) as Head of Defence Office. For more information about François Roux, please click here.  The Head of Defence Office serves for a period of three years.

Responsibilities of the Defence Office
 
The principal duty of the Defence Office is to promote the rights of suspects, the accused and their defence counsel. Article 15 and 16 of Statute endows suspects and accused before the Special Tribunal with a number of essential rights. These fundamental principles are also enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Defence Office undertakes to promote these rights so as to ensure the highest standard of fairness in the proceedings before the Special Tribunal. See rights of the accused
 
Practically, this means that the Defence Office has a number of responsibilities, which have been specified in the rules. Amongst others, the Head of  Defence Office is responsible for:
  • Maintaining a list of counsel who are eligible to be assigned to suspects or accused who do not have the financial means to pay for counsel themselves.
  • Identifying duty counsel who can be quickly assigned to suspects or to accused for their initial appearance or any urgent matter
  • Confirming the representation of those defence counsel that suspects and accused have retained themselves without the financial assistance of the STL.
  • Assigning one or more defence counsel to those suspects and accused who lack the means to pay for counsel themselves.
  • Assigning counsel for trials in absentia where the accused has not chosen his own counsel
  • Providing facilities, assistance, advice and training to defence counsel, including legal advice and practical assistance with investigations.
  • Maintaining a list of experts, investigators, legal assistants and case managers who may be assigned to assist counsel
  • Appearing before the Pre-Trial Judge or Trial and Appeals Chamber with regard to the general issues affecting the rights of suspects and accused and any other concerns in this regard.
  • Monitoring the effectiveness of the legal assistance provided by defence counsel
  • Seeking cooperation in a manner consistent with the Statute from any state, entity or person to assist with the defence of suspects and accused before the Tribunal.
 
Does the Defence Office represent any suspects or accused?

It is important to note that neither the Head of Defence Office, nor any of his staff can represent a suspect or accused. In all cases before STL, the Head of Defence Office shall appoint or assign counsel for such representation. Because of the likelihood of conflicts of interest between persons accused before the Special Tribunal, the Plenary of Judges considered it more appropriate not to include public defenders in the Defence Office. Moreover, Rule 57(I) specifies that Neither the Head of Defence Office nor its members shall take any instructions from suspects or accused persons or be involved in factual allegations or matters relating to a specific case, which may raise conflicts of interest and affect the independence of the Office.