The LaGrand case was a legal action heard before the
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
(ICJ) which concerned the
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
en, Viennese
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, timezone_DST ...
. In the case, the ICJ ruled that its own temporary court orders were legally binding and that the rights contained in the convention could not be denied by the application of domestic legal procedures.
Background
On January 7, 1982, brothers Karl-Heinz LaGrand (1963–1999) and Walter Bernhard LaGrand (1962–1999) bungled an armed bank robbery in
Marana, Arizona
Marana is a town in Pima County, Arizona, United States, located northwest of Tucson, with a small portion in Pinal County. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 34,961. From 1990 to 2000, Marana was the fourth fastest-g ...
, United States, killing 63-year-old Kenneth Hartsock by stabbing him 24 times with a letter opener, and severely injuring 20-year-old Dawn Lopez by stabbing her multiple times. Lopez later said she heard one of the brothers twice say, "Just make sure he's dead." They were subsequently charged and convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The LaGrands also had prior convictions for robbery and burglary, which were used against them during the sentencing phase of their trials.
The LaGrands were German nationals, having been born from a German mother in Germany. While they had both lived in the United States since they were four and five, respectively, neither had obtained U.S. citizenship. As foreigners, the LaGrands should have been informed of their right to
consular assistance
Consular assistance is help and advice provided by the diplomatic agents of a country to citizens of that country who are living or traveling overseas.
The diplomats may be honorary consuls, or members of the country's diplomatic service.
Such a ...
, under the Vienna Convention, from their state of nationality, Germany. However, the Arizona authorities failed to do this. The brothers later contacted Consul William Behrens, head of the German Consulate in Phoenix, on their own accord, having learned of their right to consular assistance. They appealed their sentences and convictions on the grounds that they were not informed of their right to consular assistance, and that with consular assistance they might have been able to mount a better defense. The federal courts rejected their argument on grounds of
procedural default
Procedural default is a concept in American federal law that requires a state prisoner seeking a writ of ''habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful deten ...
, which provides that issues cannot be raised in federal court appeals unless they have first been raised in state courts.
Diplomatic efforts, including pleas by German Ambassador
Jürgen Chrobog
Jürgen Chrobog (born February 28, 1940) is a German jurist and former diplomat. He worked in the Foreign Office of West Germany and the reunified Germany and among other diplomatic postings, was Ambassador to the United States from 1995 to 20 ...
and German Member of Parliament Claudia Roth, and the recommendation of Arizona's clemency board, failed to sway Arizona Governor
Jane Dee Hull
Jane Dee Hull (; August 8, 1935 – April 16, 2020) was an American politician and educator. In 1997, she ascended to the office of governor of Arizona following the resignation of Fife Symington, becoming the state's 20th governor. Hull wa ...
, who insisted that the executions be carried out. Karl LaGrand was subsequently executed by the state of Arizona on February 24, 1999, by lethal injection. Walter LaGrand was executed March 3, 1999, by lethal gas (upon his request), and currently remains the last person executed by that method in the United States.
The case
Germany initiated legal action in the International Court of Justice against the United States regarding Walter LaGrand. Hours before Walter LaGrand was due to be executed, Germany applied for the Court to grant a provisional court order, requiring the United States to delay the execution of Walter LaGrand, which the court granted.
Germany then initiated action in the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
for enforcement of the provisional order. In its judgment,''Federal Republic of Germany et al. vs. United States et al.'', 526 U.S. 111, per curiam the U.S. Supreme Court held that it lacked jurisdiction with respect to Germany's complaint against Arizona due to the Eleventh Amendment of the
U.S. constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
, which prohibits federal courts from hearing lawsuits of foreign states against a U.S. state. With respect to Germany's case against the United States, it held that the doctrine of procedural default was not incompatible with the Vienna Convention, and that even if procedural default did conflict with the Vienna Convention it had been overruled by later federal law – the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), , was introduced to the United States Congress in April 1995 as a Senate Bill (). The bill was passed with broad bipartisan support by Congress in response to the bombings of th ...
, which explicitly legislated the doctrine of procedural default. (Subsequent federal legislation overrides prior self-executing treaty provisions, '' Whitney v. Robertson'', ).
The
U.S. Solicitor General
The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021.
The United States solicitor general represent ...
sent a letter to the Supreme Court, as part of these proceedings, arguing that provisional measures of the International Court of Justice are not legally binding. The
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
also conveyed the ICJ's provisional measure to the Governor of Arizona without comment. The Arizona clemency board recommended a stay to the governor, on the basis of the pending ICJ case; but the Governor of Arizona ignored the recommendation.
Germany then modified its complaint in the case before the ICJ, alleging furthermore that the U.S. violated international law by failing to implement the provisional measures. In opposition to the German submissions, the United States argued that the Vienna Convention did not grant rights to individuals but only to states; that the convention was meant to be exercised subject to the laws of each state party, which in the case of the United States meant subject to the doctrine of procedural default; and that Germany was seeking to turn the ICJ into an international court of criminal appeal.
ICJ decision
On June 27, 2001, the ICJ, rejecting all of the United States' arguments, ruled in favor of Germany. The ICJ held that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963, granted rights to individuals on the basis of its plain meaning, and that domestic laws could not limit the rights of the accused under the convention, but only specify the means by which those rights were to be exercised. The ICJ also found that its own provisional measures were legally binding. The nature of provisional measures has been a subject of great dispute in international law; the English text of the Statute of the International Court of Justice implies they are not binding, while the French text implies that they are. Faced with a contradiction between two equally authentic texts of the statute, the court considered which interpretation better served the objects and purposes of the statute, and hence found that they are binding. This was the first time in the court's history it had ruled as such.
The court also found that the United States violated the Vienna Convention through its application of procedural default. The court was at pains to point out that it was not passing judgment on the doctrine itself, but only its application to cases involving the Vienna Convention.
See also
*
Capital punishment in Arizona
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Arizona. After the execution of Joseph Wood in 2014, executions were temporarily suspended but resumed in 2022.
Legal process
When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence ...
*
List of people executed in Arizona
This list of people executed by the U.S. state of Arizona since capital punishment was resumed in 1976 comprises 40 persons, all male, convicted of murder and executed at Florence State Prison in Florence, Arizona.Avena case
* '' Leal Garcia v. Texas'' (2011)
* Linda Carty
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 526
This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court ca ...