In a decision adopted yesterday, the Appeals Chamber rejected the appeals the defence teams lodged in August on a decision to join the Gotovina and the Cermak-Markac case.
The Prosecutor's Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia moved the joinder of the two cases in February and a Trial Chamber approved the motion in July.
In its decision the Appeals Chamber also took a position on a possible conflict of interest of attorneys Cedo Prodanovic, Jadranka Slokovic and Miroslav Separovic, which Gotovina's defence referred to in their appeal.
Gotovina's lawyers have announced the possibility of calling Separovic, a former justice minister, as a witness in the joint trial, in which he will also represent Markac, and the possibility of another Prodanovic-Slokovic client, General Rahim Ademi, testifying in the joint trial.
The Appeals Chamber recalled in the decision that according to Gotovina's lawyers, Separovic could testify about ministries' jurisdiction over military courts and first Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's alleged influence on the judiciary. The Chamber said Separovic's testimony would be relevant and necessary for the defence and that it would lead to a conflict of interest.
The ICTY lawyers' code stipulates that an attorney who is necessary as a witness cannot represent a party in the proceedings in question. The Appeals Chamber concluded this conflict of interest provided grounds for Separovic to request to withdraw from Markac's defence team.
The Chamber said that unless Separovic proved that his withdrawal would cause major difficulties to Markac, it expected him to withdraw from the case in keeping with ethical and professional obligations.
The Appeals Chamber said that unless Separovic did so, he might face consequences ranging from being deprived of the right to represent before the ICTY to the launching of proceedings before the national bar association.
The Chamber concluded that another conflict of interest in Cermak's defence might arise if proceedings against him in The Hague and those against Ademi in Croatia started and ran concurrently as both generals are represented by the Prodanovic-Slokovic team.
The Appeals Chamber said Prodanovic and Slokovic must fully inform their clients of the conflict of interest and obtain their consent to continue representing them. Slokovic told Hina the team had already obtained the consent from both Cermak and Ademi.
The Appeals Chamber said that potential conflict of interest existed regardless of whether the Gotovina and Cermak-Markac cases were joined.