Sessions Information

  • January 8, 2011
    3:30 pm - 5:15 pm
    Session Type: Section Programs
    Session Capacity: N/A
    Hotel: N/A
    Room: Mendocino
    Floor: Second Floor
    The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) provides that arrested foreign nationals must be informed—without delay—of their right to communicate with their consulates.  In Avena, a 2004 case brought by Mexico before the International Court of Justice, the ICJ ruled that the United States had failed to provide rights under the VCCR to 54 Mexican nationals who were on death row.  One of the named nationals in that case was Jose Medellin, who had been sentenced to death for participating in the rape and murder of two teenage girls in Texas.  In a subsequent case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, Medellin argued that he had rights under the Avena decision and a related presidential memorandum.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled otherwise in Medellin, holding 6-3 that the VCCR was not self-executing, that states did not have to enforce the ICJ judgment, and that the presidential memorandum was not binding on states.  This roundtable will closely review the Medellin decision and consider whether the Supreme Court erred in reaching that decision.  It will describe efforts at the state level on enforcing rights under the VCCR and also consider whether the Medellin decision is affecting federal government efforts to implement other treaties post-Medellin.  The roundtable will be of interest to professors who teach international law, constitutional law, and criminal law.
Session Speakers
California Western School of Law
Speaker

Southern Illinois University School of Law
Speaker

University of Houston Law Center
Speaker

Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Speaker

University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
Speaker

Session Fees
  • 7460 International Law: $0.00