Review of death sentences ordered

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NEW YORK -- The International Court of Justice ruled yesterday that the United States "must" review the convictions and death sentences of 51 Mexicans in U.S. jails, saying local authorities had failed to consult Mexican consulates in violation of international law.

The Mexican government had petitioned The Hague-based world court to scrap the convictions and order retrials for the Mexicans, who would receive its legal advice this time.

William Taft, a lawyer representing the United States before the court, had argued that the prisoners received fair trials and that any remedy "must be left to the United States."

International Court of Justice rulings are usually considered "legally binding," but the court has no enforcement power, nor does the court have any authority to order an American state to review a sentence or a conviction. This leaves it to the U.S. government to decide what to make, if anything, of the decision.

If the court is not satisfied with the response, it might refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council "for appropriate action," according to the ICJ statute. But it is not clear what that would mean, either.

In one earlier, highly publicized case, the German government in 2001 tried to win a stay of execution in the case of two German brothers who were convicted of murder during an armed robbery. The two had been raised in the United States and never had requested consular contact.

The international court nevertheless found for the German government in a case that Washington dismissed as an attempt to hold a referendum on capital punishment. Arizona executed one brother before the court issued its final ruling and executed the other shortly afterward.

Two years earlier, the Paraguayan government tried to win a commutation for an admitted rapist and murderer, but Virginia refused to comply after a personal plea by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright.