NCJ Number
194837
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 71 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2002 Pages: 22-32
Date Published
March 2002
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article first reviews the legal requirements for law enforcement officials regarding consular rights warnings to arrested or detained foreign nationals and then discusses the impact of a failure to provide such warnings, relevant international case law, and nonjudicial international measures.
Abstract
Most countries of the world, including the United States, are parties to or otherwise obligated by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and Optional Protocol on Disputes (VCCR). Under the VCCR, an arresting or detaining official must notify the foreign national of the right to have the individual's nearest consular officials notified of the arrest or detention so that the appropriate foreign official may visit and assist the individual. This article provides the U.S. State Department's suggested notice for reading to those detained or arrested foreign nationals who have the right to decide (those who are not from a "mandatory notification country") whether or not they want consular officials to be notified. Although the great weight of case law within the United States indicates that failure to provide VCCR rights warnings to arrested or detained foreign nationals when required will not result in either suppression of the subjects' statements nor the dismissal of prosecutions brought against them, law enforcement officials at all levels of American government should nevertheless comply with the treaty's notification provisions in order to ensure reciprocity of treatment of Americans overseas and to avoid needless obstacles for the prosecutor. Moreover, the United States has already received an adverse judgment from the International Court of Justice and elsewhere within the international legal community for past failures to comply with the VCCR. 68 notes