42.     The Appeals Chamber finds that it was open to the Prosecution to rely on paragraph (C)(1)(b) of the Practice Direction for the determination of the scheduling deadline. The Appeals Chamber agrees that paragraph (C)(1)(b) of the Practice Direction authorizes the Prosecution to elect to file a consolidated response brief in cases involving a plurality of co-accused without first obtaining leave from the Appeals Chamber to do so.[5] The finding of the Appeals Chamber in Hadžihasanović was, contrary to Ntabakuze’s contention, of a general nature and is further reflected in the Pre-Appeal Judge’s express finding that “under the Practice Direction on the Length of Briefs and Motions on Appeal of 8 December 2006, the Prosecution may elect to file a consolidated brief in response to all three appeal briefs” and that the time-limit for the filing of such brief would only run from the filing date of the last appeal brief in this case.[6] The wording of paragraph (C)(1)(b) specifies and further defines the provision of Rule 112(A) of the Rules in the event of a plurality of accused. […]

44.     Rules 108, 111, and 112 of the Rules establish an equilibrated system for the appellant and the respondent regarding the timetable for filing their submissions, according an appropriate amount of time to each party. This filing schedule is envisaged to facilitate and expedite the Appeals Chamber’s assessment of the parties’ submissions in order to guarantee swift and fair appeal proceedings. If the briefing schedule pursuant to paragraph (C)(1)(b) of the Practice Direction were to be maintained in the present case, several months would lapse without any progress on Ntabakuze’s appeal. Additionally, this would leave the Prosecution with approximately 11 months to respond to Ntabakuze’s appeal brief instead of 40 days as prescribed under Rule 112(A) of the Rules, which would further contradict the filing schedule prescribed in the Rules.

46.     The Appeals Chamber further considers that an earlier submission of the Prosecution’s response brief will add to the enforcement of equality of arms, as enshrined in Article 20(4) of the Statute. Therefore, the Appeals Chamber finds that it is in the interests of justice to adjust the briefing schedule to correspond to the specific circumstances of this case. Moreover, this will allow the Appeals Chamber to expedite the assessment of Ntabakuze’s appeal as well as the appeals of his co-Appellants, which, as a result, will have a positive effect on the setting of the appeals hearing date and the appeals proceedings as a whole.