This is the number of minutes which, according to the latest report of the Trial Chamber, the accused and the prosecutor spent examining or cross-examining defense witnesses by 18 May 2005.


According to a latest court order regarding the use of time in the presentation of defense evidence, Slobodan Milosevic has used 35,18 of the 90 days approved for the presentation of his evidence, while Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice has used 21.29 of the 54 days approved for the cross-examination of defense witnesses.

The Trial Chamber stood by its initial order of February 2004, under which the presentation of the defense case can last not more than 150 days. In that order Milosevic was given 90 days to present his case, while the remaining 60 days were envisaged for the cross-examination of witnesses by the prosecutor and for so-called administrative issues. The latest order has separated the cross-examination and administrative issues, so that the time allotted to the prosecutor has been revised to 216 hours, or 54 workdays.

All in all, since the start of the defense case on 31 August last year, the trial has effectively lasted 56.47 days, which means that Milosevic and the prosecutor have a total of 93.5 days left to present or refute the defense evidence. Bearing in mind the pace of the trial so far, with the court sitting three days a week, and the summer and New Year’s recess at the Tribunal, it means that the Milosevic defense case could be completed some time in the spring of 2006 at best, provided the trial is not interrupted for longer periods of time as a result of the ill health of the accused or for other unforeseeable reasons.

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