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Avena and Sanchez-Llamas Come to Germany – The German Constitutional Court Upholds Rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

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Much attention has been given to a series of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the effects of the decisions of the International Court of Justice interpreting the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On 19 September, 2006, the German Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - German Federal Constitutional Court), has made its first judgment on the issue. The decision is significant for international law and even more specifically for U.S. jurists: Its outcome differs significantly from the U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

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Developments
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Copyright © 2007 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

1 See Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, 126 S.Ct. 2669 (2006); Medellin v. Drake, 544 U.S. 660 (2005); Beard v. Greene, 523 U.S. 371 (1998).Google Scholar

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53 As federal law pursuant to article 59, paragraph 2 of the GG; Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court), 2 BvR 2115/01, para. 57 (Sept. 19, 2006), http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de.Google Scholar

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63 See also id.Google Scholar

64 Id. at para. 62.Google Scholar

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72 Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court), 2 BvR 2115/01, para. 64 (Sept. 19, 2006), http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de.Google Scholar

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75 Id. It did so by narrowly defining “competent authorities” under article 36 of the VCCR.Google Scholar

76 LaGrand Case (F.R.G. v. U.S.), 2001 I.C.J. 466, 494 (June 27); see also Case concerning Avena and other Mexican Nationals (Mex. v. U.S.), 2004 I.C.J. 12, 35 (Mar. 31).Google Scholar

77 LaGrand, 2001 I.C.J. at 494. But article 36 of the VCCR does not grant the detainee any rights against his home state. This has to be examined in every case.Google Scholar

79 Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court), 2 BvR 2115/01, para. 65 (Sept. 19, 2006), http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de.Google Scholar

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86 Id. at para. 66.Google Scholar

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109 See under A.Google Scholar

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117 Id. (referencing Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)).Google Scholar

119 Paulus, Andreas, Anmerkung zum BGH Beschluß vom 7 November 2001 (Comment to the Federal Court of Justice Judgment of 7 November 2001), 23 Strafverteidiger (StV) 60 (2003).Google Scholar