Medellin Execution Violates ICJ Decision in Avena

That's the title of commentary at Jurist by Rick Kirgis, secretary of the American Society of International Law.  LINK

If the state of Texas goes ahead with the planned execution of José Ernesto Medellín without allowing him any judicial reconsideration of his murder conviction and his death sentence (to determine whether he was prejudiced by the Texas authorities’ failure to notify him of his right to contact the Mexican consulate after he was arrested), the United States will breach its obligation under the United Nations Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to comply with the decision of the ICJ against the United States in the Avena case. In that case the ICJ held that the failure to provide review and reconsideration for Medellín and similarly-situated Mexican nationals convicted of murder in the United States was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (the Vienna Convention). Under the UN Charter and ICJ Statute, the ICJ decision is final and binding on the United States.

The ICJ in the Avena case said that the availability of a clemency process (in this instance, potentially by the governor of Texas) would not qualify as an appropriate means of undertaking the review and reconsideration. According to the ICJ, a judicial process is required.

It is immaterial for international law purposes that it is the state of Texas, rather than the federal government of the United States, that has failed to provide the required review and reconsideration.

Last week, a state district judge in Houston set an August 5 execution date for Jose Medellin, as noted in this post.  More on Medellin I and Medellin II, via Oyez.org.  Earlier coverage of Medellin v. Texas (Medellin II) is here.