Court Inches Toward Assigned Counsel as Milosevic Case Drags On

On Slobodan Milosevic's first day back in court following more than two weeks rest under doctor's orders, the Trial Chamber announced it had extended the remit of the Amici Curiae. Concerned about the Accused's recurring medical condition which has stopped the trial nine times and taken an extra year, the Chamber authorized the Amici 'to receive such communications as the Accused may make to them and to act in any way to protect and further the interests of his Defence.' That does not appear much different than the current parameters of their assignment. It may, however, be a preliminary step toward shifting the Amici into the defence counsel chairs. In court, Judge May noted that the Trial Chamber 'will retain under consideration the possibility of assigning counsel.' While Milosevic may continue to protest any assignment of counsel, there is also the possibility that he will eventually accept it, if only as more evidence that he is being persecuted by the Tribunal.

With the recent abbreviation of trial days to three per week, the prosecution's case will drag on well beyond the projected end of 2003. The estimated end date is now early to mid-February 2004. As the end of the trial disappears into an unforeseeable and distant future, it is in danger of losing coherence. The prosecution schedules and reschedules witnesses at great cost and inconvenience. The change in schedule alone contributes to an incoherent process. As Geoffrey Nice told the Court, the witness scheduled for today -- who had been scheduled three times before -- decided not to come. To Mr. Nice's understandable pique, the witness didn't even bother to let the prosecution know. He just didn't show up at the airport.

A further difficulty is the ability of all involved -- judges, prosecutors, amici and, not least of all, the accused, to remember witnesses, testimony, documents and exhibits over many years. While there are systems in place to track the evidence to some extent, it loses its freshness and lessens its impact.

Those are only some of the legal repercussions. Much of the public long ago lost interest, as the media moved on to newer news. Even in the former Yugoslavia, Milosevic's trial is fading into history well before its conclusion. At this rate, when the verdict is ultimately announced, a new generation will have matured that may have only a hazy, second hand notion of Slobodan Milosevic and his trial in some distant international court. Rather than being the 'trial of the century,' it will be a not very memorable footnote.