Title
banner by Stanley Berneche, Why Not Studios
This collection of documents prepared by Human Rights Research is
posted
for the benefit of attorneys, researchers and consular officers.
The collection includes:
1) Consular
Notification and Assistance: A Guide for Defense Attorneys. This 40-page litigation guide includes a
background to consular rights issues in
2) Understanding Sanchez-Llamas Briefly summarizes the core holdings of the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on remedies for Vienna Convention violations in criminal cases, with an analysis of its potential applications and limitations. Updated November, 2008.
3) Individual Consular Rights: Foreign Law and Practice Citing official sources, this file demonstrates that more than 60 parties to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) recognize that the treaty confers legal rights on foreign detainees. Many countries require advisement of consular rights simultaneously with other legal safeguards such as the right to an attorney, and courts in other common law nations have granted judicial remedies for violations of consular advisement obligations. November, 2006 (6 pages); updated regularly.
4) Consular Notification and Assistance: A Resource Guide for Consuls Outlines the significance of consular notification and access to detainees, the rights conferred on individual nationals and consuls under the Vienna Convention, forms of consular assistance in death penalty cases, sources for additional information, recent developments and consular intervention in clemency campaigns. December, 2001 (12 pages).
5) Representing Foreign Nationals Facing the Death Penalty Intended primarily as a quick primer on relevant issues for attorneys, paralegals and investigators working on capital defense teams, the guide outlines the unique problems in representing foreign defendants, provides a strategy for enlisting the consulate as an ally, lists forms of consular assistance, describes recent litigation of consular rights, illustrates the significance of the issue in the context of Miranda claims and provides condensed material from the guide for defense attorneys (item 1 above). December, 2001.
6) Consular Notification: Statutory and Regulatory Provisions A compilation of federal, state and local regulations, statutes and guidelines requiring notification of consular rights by law enforcement agencies. September, 2006; updated periodically.
7) Consular Rights of Foreign Nationals: International Norms Excerpts from international instruments enshrining the right of foreign detainees to consular communication and access. Includes United Nations instruments, regional standards and international court rulings. October, 2004; updated regularly.
8) Consular Notification and Access: Proposed Model Standards. A 7-page discussion paper outlining standardized procedures for notifying detained foreigners of their consular rights. Proposed in the context of Canadian law enforcement procedures, but adaptable to other jurisdictions as well.
9) Violations of the
Vienna Convention: Editorials and Statements A collection of editorials and official
statements on the impact of VCCR violations in
10) Instant Avena A capsule summary of the main holdings
of the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning Avena and Other
Mexican Nationals (
11) Foreigners Under Sentence of Death Worldwide Preliminary data on foreign nationals on death row in 32 countries, including reported executions. October, 2004; updated periodically.
12) Returning Prisoners to
Face the U.S. Death Penalty: Limitations Under International Law Describes the legal basis for
requiring a mandatory assurance against the death penalty before returning any
individual from an abolitionist country to face the death penalty in the
13) The Death Penalty Worldwide: Estimated Death Row Populations In many parts of the world, the death penalty is shrouded in secrecy; accurate statistics on its use are incomplete or non-existent. Drawing on many sources, this file provides a very tentative answer to a basic but difficult question: how many people are under sentence of death worldwide? April, 2006; updated regularly.
Additional Resources
For comprehensive data on the use of
the death penalty by country (including its application to foreign nationals
and other legal concerns), please visit the Death Penalty Worldwide site
Information on the case of Humberto Leal and the effort to
implement effective
remedies for consular rights violations in
For
updated data on death-sentenced foreign nationals in the
A
collection of briefs from recent
The
following detailed guides are available from the International Justice Project
website in Adobe Acrobat format:
Equal Protection : Consular Assistance & Criminal Justice
Procedures in the USA
(International Justice
Project & Human Rights Research, 3rd edition (2008), 55 pages). The purpose of this introductory guide is to better
acquaint consular officials with the
Also available in Spanish, as Proteccion sin Distincion : La Ayuda Consular y
los Procesos de Justicia Penal en los Estados Unidos de America
A
Universal Safeguard: Providing Consular Assistance to Nationals in Custody
(International Justice
Project and Human Rights Research, June 2003, 36 pages). An introductory manual that is universal in
scope and applicable to consular assistance procedures in any country. A source for ideas and advice, both for training consular personnel
and in the development of consular policies and procedures.
Bridging
the Gap: Effective Representation of Foreign Nationals in US Criminal Cases
(International Justice
Project and Human Rights Research, 3rd edition (2007), 74 pages). Designed for use by attorneys
representing foreign nationals facing the death penalty or other extremely
serious charges in the
For an overview of conducting mitigation
investigations in capital cases of foreign nationals (including the importance
of consular assistance), see:
Mitigation Abroad: Preparing A Successful Case For Life For The Foreign National Client
Your comments and suggestions
about this collection are always welcome.
Other material and
assistance on this subject is also available.
For more information, please
contact:
Mark Warren, Human Rights Research
Ottawa, Canada
(613) 256-8308
e-mail
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available from Human Rights Research, please click here
Last updated: January, 2012