STL Bulletin February 2013

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Judicial developments
Ayyash et al. case

in the

This case relates to the attack of 14

February 2005 in Beirut.
Trial Preparation:
Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen postponed
the start of trial in the case of Ayyash et al.,
in a decision issued on 21 February.
A new tentative date will soon be set by
Judge Fransen, to replace 25 March 2013 as
a provisional date for the start of trial. Judge
Fransen has asked for submissions from the
Prosecution, Defence Counsel and Victims'
Representatives by 8 March on their
preparedness for trial, after which he will
set the new date.
The decision to postpone the trial is in
response to the Defence Counsel for the
four accused in the 14 February 2005 attack
asking the Pre-Trial Judge to postpone the
trial date.
The Pre-Trial Judge found that certain
disclosure obligations had not been
met, which the Prosecution recognized. He
found that the Prosecution has not yet
disclosed the entirety of the material to the
Defence, and that the Defence has not yet
been able to access certain material
disclosed by the Prosecution due to
technical issues. In reaching his decision, the

Pre-Trial Judge also took note of the

ongoing cooperation requests by the
Defence made to the Lebanese authorities.
Judge Fransen wrote in his decision that all
of these issues could not have been
foreseen when he set the tentative trial
date in July 2012 and also noted the volume
of evidence.
Plenary of Judges:
The judges of the STL approved a number of
amendments to the Tribunals rules in the
annual plenary. Some of these changes are
aimed at speeding up trial proceedings, and
will come into force on 6 March.
For example, one amendment assigns more
powers to a single Judge of a Chamber (the
Judge Rapporteur) in order to speed up
proceedings, and deadlines will now be
counted as calendar days instead of working
days.
Cases of contempt and false testimony will
be heard by one judge in order to simplify
the procedures.
In addition, the Pre-Trial Judge will be able
to refer certain matters to the Trial Chamber
before transmitting the case file to it,
allowing the judges to deal with some issues
related to the trial before the trial formally
begins. This will also help speed up
preparation for trial.

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For more information please contact the Press Office:
stl-pressoffice@un.org +31 (0)70 800 3560 +31 (0)70 800 3828
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Prosecution Amends the Indictment:

The Prosecutor filed on 6 February a
confidential motion seeking amendments to
the present indictment in the Ayyash et al.
case. The proposed amendments set out
certain clarifications.

The timing of this filing follows a

commitment made by the Prosecution
during the Status Conference held by the
Pre-Trial Judge on 30 January 2013.
A public redacted version of the cover
motion is available on the Tribunal's
website.

Please refer to http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/the-cases/stl-11-01/main, to access all filings in

relation to the Ayyash et al. case.

Events and visits

Inter-University Course on International Criminal Law and Procedure:
The STL started another session of the Inter-University Course on International Criminal Law
and Procedure. The course was conceived by the STL and is done in cooperation with the
Asser Institute and universities in Lebanon. These include Universit Libanaise, Beirut Arab
University, American University of Science and Technology, Universit Saint-Joseph,
Universit La Sagesse, Universit Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, Notre Dame University and American
University of Beirut.
The first session of the course was held from November 2011 until June 2012 and 100
students received Certificates. Lectures are held via video-link from the Asser Institute in
The Hague to students gathered in one of the participating Universities. There is
simultaneous interpretation between English/French and Arabic and each lecture is
followed by an inter-active Q&A session.
STL Facebook Page:
The Press Office launched the STLs Facebook page in February. The page will provide
updated news and official information about the Tribunal, combined with Q&As, pictures of
the STLs main events and career opportunities.
Visits
In February, the STL welcomed visitors from the Paris Bar Association, the International
Criminal Court, Universit Libre de Bruxelles, Leiden University, Brandeis University, the Irish
Centre for Human Rights, and the University of Exeter.
Visits to the Tribunal can be arranged for groups, and briefings can be given by all organs to
provide an insight into the work of the STL. Please fill in our online booking form to request a
group visit.
STL links:
To access all STL filings, please refer to http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/filings-all-cases
For job vacancies, please refer to http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/jobs