Brief Fact Summary. A suit against the United States (D) was filed by Germany (P) in the International Court of Justice, claiming the U.S. law enforcement agent failed to advice aliens upon their arrests of their rights under the Vienna Convention.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A state that breaches its obligations to another under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to inform an arrested alien of the right to consular notification and to provide judicial review of the alien’s conviction and sentence also violate individual rights held by the alien under international law.
Issue. Does a state which breaches its obligations to another under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to inform an arrested alien of the right to consular notification and to provide judicial review of the alien’s conviction and sentence also violate individual rights held by the alien under international law?
Held. Yes. A state that breaches its obligations to another under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to inform an arrested alien of the right to consular notification and to provide judicial review of the alien’s conviction and sentence also violate individual rights held by the alien under international law. The meaning adduced to the phrase “authorities shall inform the person concerned without delay of his rights under this subparagraph” of Article 36 suggests that the rights to be informed of their rights under the Convention is an individual right of every national of a state that is party to the Convention.
Discussion. The Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull insisted that the executions of the LeGrand brothers would be carried out despite the diplomatic efforts made by the German Ambassador and German Members of Parliament and the recommendation of the Arizona’s clemency board. On February 24, 1999, Karl LaGrand was executed by lethal injection and Walter LaGrand was executed March 3, 1999 by gas chamber. Compare this case to a ruling by the I.C.J. involving Mexican nationals, Avena and other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States), 2004 I.C.J. 12 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to give effect to the I.C.J.’s Avena decision in Medelin v. Texas 128 S. Ct. 1346 (2008)