World Court Digest

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III.	The International Court of Justice
4.	JUDGMENTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
4.1.	General Questions

¤ LaGrand Case
(Germany v. United States of America)
Judgment of 27 June 2001

[pp. Decl. Guillaume] Subparagraph (7) of the operative part of the Court's Judgment envisages a situation where, despite the commitment by the United States noted by the Court in subparagraph (6), a severe penalty is imposed upon a German national without his or her rights under Article 36, paragraph 1 (b), of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations having been respected. The Court states that, in such a case, "the United States, by means of its own choosing, shall allow the review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence by taking account of the violation of the rights set forth in that Convention".

This subparagraph represents a response to certain submissions by Germany and hence rules only on the obligations of the United States in cases of severe penalties imposed upon German nationals.

Thus, subparagraph (7) does not address the position of nationals of other countries or that of individuals sentenced to penalties that are not of a severe nature. However, in order to avoid any ambiguity, it should be made clear that there can be no question of applying an a contrario interpretation to this paragraph.

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