Absence of references

Notion(s) Filing Case
Appeal Judgement - 30.06.2016 STANIŠIĆ & ŽUPLJANIN
(IT-08-91-A)

138.    The Appeals Chamber first turns to Stanišić’s submission that the Trial Chamber failed to indicate the evidence relied upon or excluded in the section of the Trial Judgement addressing Stanišić’s contribution and as such failed to provide a reasoned opinion. The Appeals Chamber notes that the section of the Trial Judgement on Stanišić’s contribution to the JCE indeed does not refer to the evidence relied upon by the Trial Chamber to support its findings. Neither does it include any cross references to its earlier findings where the Trial Chamber analysed the evidence.[1] The Appeals Chamber, however, recalls that a trial judgement must be read as a whole.[2] Furthermore, there is a presumption that a trial chamber has evaluated all the evidence presented to it, as long as there is no indication that the trial chamber completely disregarded any particular piece of evidence.[3] As Stanišić acknowledges in his own submission,[4]  in the section of the Trial Judgement addressing his contribution to the JCE, the Trial Chamber summarised the evidence that it had relied on in other sections of the Trial Judgement. While the Appeals Chamber considers the Trial Chamber’s approach regrettable, [5] it does not, in its view, amount to a failure to provide a reasoned opinion in and of itself. The Appeals Chamber therefore dismisses Stanišić’s argument.

[1] See Trial Judgement [Prosecutor v. Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, Case No. IT-08-91-T, Judgement, 27 March 2013]], vol. 2, paras 729-765.

[2] Šainović et al. Appeal Judgement, paras 306, 321; Boškoski and Tarčulovski Appeal Judgement, para. 67; Orić Appeal Judgement, para. 38.

[3] Popović et al. Appeal Judgement, para. 306; Đorđević Appeal Judgement, fn. 2527; Haradinaj et al. Appeal Judgement, para. 129; Kvočka et al. Appeal Judgement, para. 23.

[4] See Stanišić Appeal Brief [Appellant’s Brief on behalf of Mićo Stanišić, 19 August 2013]], paras 46, 240.

[5] See supra [Stanišić and Župljanin Appeal Judgement]], para. 90.

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