Foreigners in the United States of America and compliance with article 36 of the Vienna Convention on consular relations

Abstract

The paper studies the compliance in the United States of America of the provisions of article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, which establishes the obligation of authorities to inform the foreigner they have detained, without delay, of their right to communicate with their consulates so that their officers can visit and help them organize their legal defense. The document focuses on the United States, a country that has had proceedings instituted against it three times before the International Court of Justice for violations of article 36 of the above-mentioned convention. During the last two decades, the United States has become the international epicenter of the debates on consular rights, not only because it is the nation with the highest number of foreigners living in its territory and has the largest prison population in the world, but also due to the existence of capital punishment in its legal system.