Admission denied by majority

Notion(s) Filing Case
Decision on Admission of Evidence - 12.01.2009 PRLIĆ et al.
(IT-04-74-AR73.13)

27. Finally, under this ground of appeal, the Appellant raises the issue that the admission of the tendered material was denied by the majority of the Trial Chamber and not unanimously, thus denying the dissenting Judge the possibility to refer to those materials when providing the reasons for his judgement.[1] [see infra, under “Judges / Decisions by majority”] In this case, the Trial Chamber decided, albeit by majority, not to admit certain documents tendered into evidence. The effect of this decision is such that these documents do not form part of the record. Several venues are open for the Appellant to challenge this decision, including motions for reconsideration and/or review, interlocutory appeal or appeal on the merits. However, if such challenges fail, the parties and the Judges are bound to refer themselves to the record of the case. The suggestion that all tendered materials be admitted into evidence for the sake of forming an exhaustive record contradicts the logic of having admissibility criteria and would not be beneficial to the effective administration of justice.

[1] Appeal, paras 17, 19; see also the Certification Decision [Prosecutor v. Jadranko Prlić et al., Case No. IT-04-74-T, Decision on Requests for Certification to Appeal Two Decisions Filed by the Prlić Defence, dated 6 and 9 October 2008 Respectively, 6 November 2008], pp. 5-6.

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