Presiding judge Patrick Robinson said that the trial chamber possessed medical reports saying that the defendant was unfit to defend himself and that something had to be done in that regard.
The trial chamber is unable to make a decision at present, Robinson said after a break and called on the parties to continue the hearing tomorrow.
The former Yugoslav president voiced suspicion about doctors' reports stating that he was unfit to continue defending himself and requested to be examined by "specialists from Russia, Serbia and Greece".
"I was fit to question witnesses for the prosecution and now I am unfit to question my own witnesses. That is manipulation aimed at stripping me of the right to say the truth," Milosevic said.
The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said it was necessary to impose defence counsel, referring to the practice at international and national courts, including those in Serbia and Montenegro. She proposed that legal advisors be introduced to present evidence.
Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice warned that the latest medical reports indicated that the trial schedule could be jeopardised again as had been the case over the last 12 months, and that control over the trial was at stake. He proposed that defence attorneys be found among 'amici curiae' and requested the judges to stop tolerating Milosevic's stating every day that the tribunal was illegal.
Amicus curiae Steven Kay opposed imposing defence attorneys on the defendant against his will and right to defend himself.
Milosevic's trial before the UN war crimes tribunal started on 12 February 2002. His indictment contains 66 counts of genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia and Kosovo.
The trial was interrupted on a dozen occasions due to Milosevic's high blood pressure, heart problems and exhaustion. Although it is only half way through, it has already become the longest war crimes trial in the history of international law.