Mexico complains to ICJ over death row prisoners in US

• Report rights infringement
• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. Wide shot of International Criminal court 2. Mid shot of court officials 3. Judges and court officials sit down 4. Court in session 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) William H Taft, Legal Adviser, US Department of State: "Professor Zoller will begin our presentation by addressing the subjects of jurisdiction and admissibility. She will show that the court does not have the competence to order the unprecedented remedies that Mexico seeks. Following professor Zoller we will take up the merits of Mexico's case, which is premised on a grossly distorted picture of the United States's justice system." 6. Court clerk 7. SOUNDBITE: (French) Professor Elizabeth Zoller, University of Paris: "The present affair appeals to our conscience on the power of judging, something so terrible amongst men of which Montesquieu has spoken about. But it appeals to us in a different circumstance. It's in this difference that the court must exclusively interest itself as is demanded by article 38, point 1 in its statute and it's on this point of difference that the United States. The difference between the two states brings onto the consequences on an assumption by the United States on article 36, paragraph 1, point B of the convention of brings onto consular relations in the interpretation that the court made of it." 8. Court in session STORYLINE: The United States asked the United Nations' highest legal body not to interfere in its criminal justice system, demanding in court Tuesday that it throw out a case filed by Mexico over the death penalty. The International Court of Justice is hearing a suit that alleges 52 Mexican citizens on US death row were denied a fair trial because they weren't told they had a right to help from the Mexican consulate. Mexico asked the court on Monday to order the men's cases be returned to the moment of their arrest and started again. But representing the United States, William Taft - great-grandson of US President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft - said the request was "unprecedented" and the international court was "not a criminal appeal court." The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, is the UN judicial body for resolving disputes between countries. At the centre of Mexico's claim is the Vienna Convention, a 1963 treaty signed by both countries that says people traveling or living abroad have the right to contact their consulates when they are accused of a serious crime. Mexico argued Monday that because consular help "could have, in capital proceedings, made the difference between life and death" for the men, the only fair way to repair the wrong was to start the legal process over. But Taft argued Tuesday that in a similar case in 2001, the court had ruled that the remedy "must be left to the United States." He said that otherwise, US police and prosecutors in every jurisdiction would be "held hostage" while they coordinated their criminal investigations with foreign consulates. In the 2001 case, the court found that the United States had failed to inform a German citizen of his right to consular assistance. But Walter LaGrand had already been executed in Arizona, in defiance of an injunction by the international court. Hearings in the Mexico case conclude Friday. No date has been set for a ruling. The case drew international attention in February, when the court's 15-judge panel unanimously ordered the United States to delay the executions of three men until it could hear the case in full. Mexicans Cesar Fierro, Roberto Ramos and Osbaldo Torres remain on US death row, and none has had an execution date set. In November, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal based on the Vienna Convention from Torres, who was You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7bd56ec51ce72dd880b0d07a25cebf64 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork