Perisic Prosecution Motion for Reconsideration Denied

I commented some weeks ago on the ludicrous motion for reconsideration in the Perisic case. I’m happy to say that the Appeals Chamber has rejected the motion.

Two brief points of note: 1) The Appeals Chamber confirms the case law on the absence of reconsideration powers as settled in Zigic. 2) The Appeals Chamber rightly pointed out  “that victims’ interest in the success of the Motion does not constitute a legal basis which would justify granting the Motion”. This is entirely correct, and the OTP had conflated in its motion the general moral interest of victims (which is certainly real) and the legal interest of victims in the particular procedure (which most certainly does not exist at the ICTY).

To be somewhat fair to the OTP, I cannot imagine that they actually thought this would succeed. This was a “hey, we tried” kind of move, which was bound to fail legally, but possibly makes the OTP look good in certain quarters.