The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the entity responsible for the trial of four Hezbollah members for the 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, approved amendments on the rules of procedure and submission of evidence, the STL announced on Monday.
Among the most significant of the changes adopted were:
-Considering deadlines as being calendar days and not working days.
-Assigning more powers to a single Judge of a Chamber [the Judge Rapporteur] in order to speed up proceedings.
-Cases of contempt and false testimony will be heard by a single Judge, with the aim of simplifying and speeding up such proceedings.
-Allowing the Pre-Trial Judge to refer any matter to the Trial Chamber that he considers should be adjudicated before the formal transmission of the case file. As a result, the Trial Chamber will be able to consider such matters before the start of trial.
-Streamlining the disposal of cases in case of joinder. When two or more cases are joined into one, the Trial Chamber already seized of one of them may assume some of the powers of the Pre-trial judge. This will expedite proceedings in case of joinder and prevent litigation on the most appropriate forum.
The STL said that the amended rules will enter into effect on March 6 2013 and will be posted on the STL website.
In June 2011, the STL issued arrest warrants for four Hezbollah-affiliated men for their involvement in the massive car bomb attack on the Beirut seafront on February 14, 2005 that killed then-Prime Minister Hariri and 22 others, including a suicide bomber but so far none has been arrested.
However, Hezbollah has denied any responsibility for the attack, and its leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed the tribunal as a US-Israeli conspiracy, vowing that none of the suspects will be arrested.
