She told a weekly press conference in The Hague that the issuance of indictments depended, among other things, on the completion of the approval process and on possible requests by the Prosecutor's Office that the indictments remain sealed.
The Hague tribunal closes for the Christmas and New Year's holidays on Friday. It will resume trials on January 10.
Asked how many indictments there would be, Hartmann referred the press to the report chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte submitted to the UN Security Council on November 23, when she announced six indictments referring to 10 to 12 persons for wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
As for the extradition of Bosnian Serb General Vinko Pandurevic, whose voluntary surrender and transfer to The Hague has been the subject of recent speculation, Hartmann said the Prosecutor's Office expected his arrival, as well as the arrival of three of five men indicted for the Srebrenica massacre so that they could be tried alongside General Ljubisa Beara, who surrendered in October.
Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale declined to comment on Pandurevic's transfer. Common practice is to confirm a suspect's transfer only when he or she arrives in the detention unit.
Reporters were also briefed about documents recently submitted in some cases, for example the requests of Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic for separate trials. They are two of six Bosnian Croats covered by an indictment against six formerly high-ranking officials accused of crimes against humanity and breaches of the Geneva conventions.
Hartmann did not answer the question whether the Appeals Chamber was expected to adopt a decision on the Prosecutor's Office file with additional evidence against Bosnian Croats Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez before the verdict in the case was handed down tomorrow or together with the verdict.
Hartmann explained the submission of new evidence and the attempt to stop the implementation of the Appeals Chamber's December 2 acquittal of Cerkez before the verdict was handed down with the suppression of evidence and the countries' failure to submit them.