The Chamber also found that the Tribunal has jurisdiction over this matter.
The Chamber noted that the application cannot be addressed through the literal application of Rules that relate to accused.
The fact that the Rules provide for the obligatory disclosure of evidence by the Prosecutor to an accused, does not mean the Rules forbid the disclosure of evidence in a situation where there is no indictment and thus no accused, but where the interests of justice otherwise require it.
Rather, this application must be considered in accordance with international standards of human rights and general principles of international criminal law and procedure, and in light of the spirit of the Statute and the Rules
At the same time, the Chamber emphasised that this determination does not entail a ruling on the modalities and limits of the applicant's right of access to a specific set of documents, including the appropriate time frame for exercising any such right.
According to the Chamber, this is a question of merit that the Pre-Trial Judge must decide on the basis of the applicable rules and the submissions of the parties.
In discharging this task, the Pre-Trial Judge "will have to strike a careful balance between the right of the applicant to judicial remedy if his detention was wrongful, on the one hand, and, on the other, the need for the Prosecutor to conduct his investigation efficiently and with the ability to protect the confidentiality of witnesses and evidence."
Apparently, the judge will also have to take into account the protection of UN documents under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.
In its letter to the President of the Tribunal of 1 October, the UN noted that "any documents or material of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission, and any other United Nations documents and material on the criminal file, are inviolable under the terms of article 11 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.”
Inviolability entails that the documents cannot be disclosed to a third party without the consent of the United Nations.
Lebanon, Decision on Appeal of Pre-Trial Judge's Order Regarding Jurisdiction and Standing, Case No. CH/AC/2010/02, President of the Tribunal, 10 November 2010.