March 12, 2010 - Iloubnan - Head of Defense Office completes his visit to Lebanon

BEIRUT - At the end of his visit to Lebanon, the Head of Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and his team members express their gratitude to all they met with.

In particular, the Head of Defense Office had fruitful and encouraging discussions with Lebanese authorities: Nabih Berri, Speaker of Parliament and Saad Hariri, Prime Minister. Roux also met with Ibrahim Najjar, Minister of Justice and with representatives of the diplomatic and academic community and civil society. During the meetings the Defense Office received support and encouragement for its efforts to achieve independent, impartial and fair justice. Roux recalls that Defense Counsel plays a vital role in this respect.

The Head of Defense Office underlines the excellent relationship with the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations. Roux met separately with the President of the Beirut Bar, Amal Haddad and members of the Council of the Bar and Antoine Ayrout, President of the Tripoli Bar and thanks them for their support and cooperation.

During the seminar on 4 and 5 March, the members of the Bar Associations showed a strong engagement in discussions about procedural aspects of the Tribunal. The six international and Lebanese speakers allowed the lawyers to familiarize themselves with procedures unknown to Lebanese Law such as the guilty pleas and investigations by defense counsel. The ability for the Defense to conduct its own investigations for exculpatory evidence is important as there is no Investigating Judge at the Tribunal. As part of the seminar on guilty pleas in international criminal tribunals, Roux recalled the jurisprudence and explained the possibility for the Defense to have confidential discussions with the Prosecutor in order to reach an agreement according to which certain charges could be withdrawn while the accused acknowledges responsibility for others. The opening statements of the seminar with the lawyers are accessible on the Tribunal’s website www.stl-tsl.org. The next seminar will discuss trials in absentia and proceedings via video-conference.

In order to strengthen the cooperation with the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations, Roux has invited its Presidents for a working visit to the Defense Office in The Hague and to visit the Tribunal.

Fulfilling its duties enshrined in the Tribunal’s Statute, the Defense Office continues its preparations in order to be ready for indictments. The Defense Office is preparing for counsel to receive legal and operational support in order to achieve equality of arms with the Office of the Prosecutor.

In the meantime, interviews for the Lists of Counsel, Legal Assistants and Case Managers are ongoing and Lebanese counsel is encouraged to register for the List of Counsel.