On June 14, Senator Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.) (pic­tured) intro­duced the Consular Notification Compliance Act. This bill would estab­lish enforce­ment mech­a­nisms for U.S. com­pli­ance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a key treaty that pro­vides the right to con­sult with your con­sulate for cit­i­zens detained out­side their home coun­try. The U.S. has signed and rat­i­fied this treaty, but has not always abid­ed by its terms. Among oth­er pro­vi­sions, the act will give juris­dic­tion to fed­er­al courts to review cas­es of for­eign nation­als cur­rent­ly on death row in the U.S. who did not receive con­sular access as required under the treaty. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that the U.S. must review the death sen­tences and con­vic­tions of 50 Mexican nation­als who had not been prop­er­ly noti­fied of their right to con­sular access. The U.S. Supreme Court, how­ev­er, held that Congress must pass leg­is­la­tion on how the treaty will be enforced before hear­ings could be required. The pro­posed leg­is­la­tion would allow the U.S. to be in line with the ICJ rul­ing. Senator Leahy said, ​“Compliance with our con­sular noti­fi­ca­tion oblig­a­tions is not a ques­tion of par­ti­san inter­est. Given the long his­to­ry of bipar­ti­san sup­port for the VCCR, there should be unan­i­mous sup­port for this leg­is­la­tion to uphold our treaty oblig­a­tions. A fail­ure to act places Americans at risk.”

The Consular Notification Compliance Act could also impact Humberto Leal Garcia, a Mexican nation­al on Texas​’s death row who is fac­ing exe­cu­tion on July 7. Leal was not informed of his right to assis­tance from the Mexican con­sulate fol­low­ing his arrest in 1994. Attorneys for Leal argue that had he been pro­vid­ed assis­tance, he would not have been con­vict­ed, let alone sen­tenced to death. Instead, Leal was rep­re­sent­ed by inex­pe­ri­enced and inef­fec­tive court-appoint­ed lawyers, one of whom was sus­pend­ed from the prac­tice of law twice for fail­ing to ade­quate­ly rep­re­sent clients. Former U.S. diplo­mats, retired mil­i­tary lead­ers, and human rights groups have urged the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to rec­om­mend a stay of exe­cu­tion to allow time for pas­sage of the leg­is­la­tion, which could also help ensure the con­sular rights of U.S. cit­i­zens arrest­ed in foreign countries.

(“Leahy Renews Effort to Bring U.S. Into Compliance with International Consular Notification Treaty,” The Office of Senator Patrick Leahy, June 14, 2011). See more on Humberto Leal and see Foreign Nationals.

Citation Guide