The ICTY issued a decision in which it instructed the court's registrar to appoint a counsel to prepare to represent the interests of Radovan Karadžić at trial. The tribunal also ordered the trial to resume in March next year.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia also determined that the appointed counsel be given three and a half months to prepare for trial, thus scheduling the resumption of trial for 1 March 2010.

The trial of Radovan Karadžić started on 26 October 2009 but the former Bosnian Serb leader did not appear in court claiming his defence was not ready despite the trial chamber’s and appeal chamber’s decisions stating that he had been given adequate time.

The court warned Karadzic on 22 October, 26 October, 27 October, and again on 2 November, that the consequence of his boycott could be the assignment of counsel to him and the continuation of the proceedings without him. An administrative hearing was held on 3 November at which parties were invited to make submissions on the future proceedings of trial.

“No counsel, not even the most experienced and efficient, could reasonably be expected to be in a position to assist the accused and, by extension, the trial process, without sufficient, albeit defined, preparation time,” the judges found. “Thus, there will need to be a delay of some months before the trial can resume, if it does so with a form of appointed counsel.”

The chamber’s decision to appoint counsel follows its conclusion that Karadžić had “substantially and persistently obstructed the proper and expeditious conduct of his trial by refusing to attend the proceedings until such time as he considers himself to be ready”.

However, considering the fundamental nature of the right to self-representation Karadzic will continue to represent himself, including by dealing with the day-to-day matters that arise, such as the filing of motions and responses to motions filed by the Prosecution, and further preparing himself for the trial.

The tribunal warns that if Karadzic continues to be "absent from the resumed trial proceedings in March, or should he engage in any other conduct that obstructs the proper and expeditious conduct of the trial, he will forfeit his right to self-representation, no longer be entitled to assistance from his assigned defence team, and the appointed counsel will take over as an assigned counsel to represent him," the Trial Chamber found.