International Court of Justice Part 25

THE LAGRAND DECISION: THE EVOLVING LEGAL LANDSCAPE OF THE Vienna Convention on Consular Relations IN U.S. DEATH PENALTY CASES
Howard S. Schiffman
Santa Clara Law Review
Volume 42, Number 4, 2002 p.1099

The decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the LaGrand Case (Germany v. United States) is the latest chapter in a long record of U.S. non-compliance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (“VCCR”). The VCCR requires that foreign nationals detained in a member state be notified of their right to contact, and have access to, their consular officials. The LaGrand brothers were German nationals who were tried, convicted and executed despite never having been advised of their right to contact German authorities. The execution of Walter LaGrand occurred in the face of an order of provisional measures by the ICJ to delay his execution pending a determination of the international legal issues of Germany’s case against the United States arising from the violation of the treaty. Poor U.S. compliance with the VCCR has led to friction on the international plane and is a significant point of contention in the death penalty debate. In a clear rebuke of the United States, the ICJ ruled that the VCCR creates individual rights of foreign nationals and that the United States violated those rights in the LaGrand Case. The ICJ also held that in future cases involving German nationals, the United States must provide “review and reconsideration”of those convictions and sentences to address VCCR violations. More importantly, the ICJ ruled decisively that its orders of provisional measures create binding obligations and the U.S. disregard of the order to stay the execution was an independent violation of international law. The United States has undertaken to improve its compliance with the VCCR. It remains to be seen, however, whether effective “review and reconsideration”can be achieved to address VCCR violations in the future. A possibility for future law and practice could involve consideration of a VCCR violation in a petition for clemency. Another possibility is reconsideration of the application of the “procedural default”rule to bar habeas corpus review of convictions obtained following VCCR violations. Finally, a more respectful approach in U.S. law and policy must be adopted to comply with future ICJ orders of provisional measures.

STUDY OF SELECTED INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION REGIMES, WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY
Maria Alejandra Rodriguez Lemmo
Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 19, Number 3, Fall 2002 p.863

This Article examines the dispute resolution methods adopted by various free trade agreements and customs union agreements worldwide. It analyzes both panel structure and court structure dispute resolution methods, adopted in GATT, the Canada-USA Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA), NAFTA, MERCOSUR, ALADI, CARICOM, Andean Community, Central American Common Market, and the European Union. The Article analyzes select decisions of the Court of Justice of the Andean Community, in order to both make that Court’s work more widely known, and to illustrate the court structure method. After a description of the legal provisions of each of these dispute resolution methods, the Article concludes with a brief analysis of the negative and positive aspects of each of these methods.

HAGUE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS: International Court of Justice
Leiden Journal of International Law
Volume 15, Number 3, September 2002

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

International Court of Justice.