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WASHINGTON - IN A case that could have far-reaching implications for international agreements involving the United States, the US Supreme Court has ruled that Texas can ignore President George W. Bush and the International Court of Justice in refusing to reopen the case of a Mexican on death row for rape and murder.
By a 6-3 vote, the court ruled on Tuesday that the state of Texas does not have to give a new hearing to Jose Ernesto Medellin, who faces the death penalty for killing two teenagers.
His lawyers have argued that their client deserved another hearing as he was prevented from consulting Mexican diplomats while in jail, as provided for by international treaty.
The ICJ ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row across the US violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad should have access to their home country's consular officials.
It said Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases. Chief Justice John Roberts, however, ruled that the ICJ decision cannot be forced upon the states. Nor does the treaty, by itself, require individual states to take action.
But Justice Stephen Breyer, in dissent, said the decision calls into question US obligations under international treaties and makes it 'more difficult to negotiate new ones'. As a result of the decision, Mr Breyer said, 'the nation may well break its word even though the president seeks to live up to that word'.
The case marks a curious turnabout for Mr Bush who, as governor of Texas, oversaw 152 executions. Now his Justice Department is trying to force the state in which Mr Bush built his political career to quash a death sentence for foreign policy reasons.
As president, Mr Bush initially objected to the lawsuit Mexico filed before the ICJ that led to that tribunal's 2004 decision. But in 2005, the White House announced that it would abide by the ICJ ruling and would instruct the states to reconsider the sentences of Mexican nationals on death row.
But Chief Justice Roberts ruled that the president cannot 'unilaterally' turn a treaty into binding domestic law.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Mr Bush was disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision and was reviewing it to determine how it might impact on international relations.
The specifics presented by the Medellin case will not repeat itself because after the world court ruling, Mr Bush withdrew the US from the ICJ's jurisdiction over future Vienna Convention disputes.
But some legal commentators said the decision could still have far-reaching implications for other international agreements involving the US if they cannot be enforced within the United States.
Professor Harold Koh, dean of the Yale Law School, said it could 'disrupt a web of international relationships that turn on international dispute resolution'.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES, BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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