ICJ CALLS ON UNITED STATES TO TAKE MEASURES TO PREVENT EXECUTION OF WALTER LAGRAND, PENDING FINAL DECISION
Press Release
ICJ/566
ICJ CALLS ON UNITED STATES TO TAKE MEASURES TO PREVENT EXECUTION OF WALTER LAGRAND, PENDING FINAL DECISION
19990303 THE HAGUE, 3 March (ICJ) -- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today called on the United States to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Walter LaGrand, pending a final decision of the Court in the proceedings instituted by Germany. Mr. LaGrand is a German national convicted of murder in Arizona whose execution is scheduled today at 3 p.m. (Phoenix, Arizona, time).In its Order, adopted unanimously, the Court also requested the Government of the United States to inform it of all the measures taken in implementation of it. It moreover enjoined it to transmit the Order to the Governor of Arizona.
This is the first time the Court indicates provisional measures proprio motu and without any other proceedings, pursuant to Article 75, paragraph 1, of its Rules which provides that "the Court may at any time decide to examine proprio motu whether circumstances of the case require the indication of provisional measures which ought to be taken or complied with by any or all of the parties".
At a meeting held this morning with Judge Weeramantry, Vice-President of the Court, Acting President, the representative of Germany emphasized the extreme urgency of the situation and asked the Court to indicate, without holding any hearing, provisional measures proprio motu. The representative of the United States, on his part, pointed out that the request for provisional measures submitted by Germany was made at a very late date and that the United States would have strong objections to any procedure which would result in the Court making an Order proprio motu without having first heard the Parties.
In the reasoning leading to its decision, the Court found that the execution of Mr. LaGrand "would cause irreparable harm to the rights claimed by Germany". It stated that the international responsibility of a State is engaged by the action of the competent organs and authorities acting in that State, whatever they may be, and that consequently the Governor of Arizona is under the obligation to act in conformity with the international undertakings of the United States.
The Court nevertheless pointed out that the issues before it did "not concern the entitlement of the federal states within the United States to resort to the death penalty for the most heinous crimes" and recalled that its function was "to resolve international legal disputes between States ... and not to act as a court of criminal appeal".
It stated that "it [was] appropriate that the Court, with the cooperation of the Parties, ensure that any decision on the merits be reached with all possible expedition".
The Court had established at the outset that a dispute exists prima facie between the Parties as to the application of the Vienna Convention and that it has jurisdiction prima facie to examine it. Germany and the United States are both parties to the Vienna Convention and to its Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes, Article I of which provides that "disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the Convention shall lie within the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice".
Germany brought a case against the United States to the Court on 2 March in a dispute concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 with respect to the case of Karl and Walter LaGrand, both of German nationality.
Karl LaGrand, 35, was executed on 24 February for the murder of a bank manager in Arizona in 1982, in spite of all appeals for clemency and numerous diplomatic interventions at the highest level by the German Government. His brother Walter, 37, is to be executed for the same crime.
Germany maintains that "Karl and Walter LaGrand were tried and sentenced to death without being advised of their rights to consular assistance", as required by the Vienna Convention. It contends that it was only in 1992 that the German consular officers were made aware, not by the authorities of the State of Arizona, but by the detainees themselves, of the case in question. Germany argues that "the failure to provide the required notification precluded it from protection its nationals' interest in the United States at both the trial and the appeal level in the State courts".
Accordingly, Germany asked the Court to adjudge and declare that the United States has violated its international legal obligations under the Vienna Convention, that the criminal liability imposed on Karl and Walter LaGrand in violation of international legal obligations is void and should be recognized as void by the legal authorities of the United States, that the United States should provide reparation in the form of compensation and satisfaction for the execution of Karl LaGrand and that it should restore the status quo ante in the case of Walter LaGrand, that is to re-establish the situation that existed before the detention of, proceedings against,
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conviction and sentencing of that German national. Germany also requested the Court to declare that the United States should provide Germany a guarantee of the non-repetition of the illegal acts.
The Vice-President of the Court exercises the functions of the presidency in the case, as President Schwebel (United States) is a national of one of the Parties.
The full text of the Order is already available on the Court's website (http://www.icj-cij.org).
For further information contact Arthur Witteveen, Secretary of the Court (tel: 31-70 302 2336), or Laurence Blairon, Information Officer (tel: 31-70 302 2337); e-mail: information@icj-cij.org
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