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News and Developments 2008: International

RESOURCES: New Website and Database Launched

Posted: December 11, 2008
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The Death Penalty Project launched a new Web site on December 10 that includes a legal resource database with a comprehensive list of international legal authorities and case law, some dating back to the 19th century, and detailed head notes for those seeking jurisprudence on criminal, constitutional, and international points of law.  Users can search for case references by subject matter and a sophisticated case index.

BOOKS: Against the Death Penalty: International Initiatives and Implications

Posted: December 04, 2008
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A new book, Against the Death Penalty: International Initiatives and Implications, features leading scholars on the death penalty and their analysis of both the promotion and demise of the punishment around the world. It considers the current efforts to restrict the death penalty within the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the African Commission, and the Commonwealth Caribbean.

DPIC Materials in Multiple Languages

Posted: October 14, 2008
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Select pages of DPIC’s Web site are now available in Spanish, German and French. DPIC’s Death Penalty Fact Sheet and other information are in Spanish. DPIC's Innocence List Case Descriptions are availabile in German. DPIC’s 1998 Report The Death Penalty in Black & White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides is available in French.

International Organizations and Countries Mark Day Against the Death Penalty

Posted: October 09, 2008
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As many countries prepare to mark the international World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10, recent trends indicate that the world is shifting away from capital punishment. According to a report published by Reprieve, an organization that represents death row prisoners around the world, 91 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes by the end of 2007, followed by three more so far in 2008.

International Law Experts Question Supreme Court Decision in Medellin Case

Posted: October 03, 2008
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Notable international law experts cited in a recent article in the Washington Lawyer criticized the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision on whether an international treaty was binding on Texas in the case of death row inmate Jose Medellin.

Execution of Foreign Nationals Raises Legal Concerns

Posted: August 07, 2008
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In a 5-4 vote on August 5, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a stay of execution for Jose Medellin, a Mexican citizen, who was then executed in Texas that night. On August 7, Heliberto Chi, an Honduran citizen, was also executed in Texas. Medellin's case had come before the Supreme Court on two previous occasions because the International Court of Justice had ruled that the U.S. had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by not informing him and other foreign nationals of their rights under that treaty. The U.S.

NEW VOICES: Request for Texas to Honor Treaty for Safety of U.S. Citizens Abroad

Posted: July 24, 2008
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An op-ed by Texas state Senator Rodney Ellis and law professor Craig Jackson argues that Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons should follow the International Court of Justice’s order to stay the executions of Mexican citizens in Texas. They believe the World Court’s decision was the “right thing to do” and Gov. Perry “would do well to consider how defiance of the World Court ruling will affect the safety of Americans abroad who rely on the same treaty protections that Texas violated in these cases.” The World Court held that the U.S.

International Court of Justice Orders US to Stay 5 executions

Posted: July 15, 2008
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World Court

The International Court of Justice has granted Mexico’s request for an order to stay the execution of five Mexican citizens on death row in the U.S. Mexico had requested the U.N.'s highest court, commonly referred to as the World Court, to intervene because the

European Union Reasserts Its Opposition to the Death Penalty in All Countries and All Cases

Posted: June 19, 2008
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On June 16, 2008, the Council of the European Union (EU) meeting in Luxembourg released a statement on General Affairs and External Relations. The document contained a restatement of its 1998 Human Rights Guideline on the death penalty. The Council, consisting of almost all Foreign Ministers in the EU, stated that it “reaffirms that working towards universal abolition of the death penalty constitutes an integral objective of the EU’s human rights policy.” The Council reasserted the “opposition of the European Union to the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances.

NEW RESOURCES: Why Some Countries Have the Death Penalty and Others Do Not

Posted: June 17, 2008
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A new study has been released that explores the correlations between countries’ legal, political, and religious systems and their use of the death penalty. Professors David Greenberg from New York University and Valerie West of John Jay College examined data from 193 nations to test why some countries regularly use capital punishment while others have abandoned it altogether. They found, “In part, a country’s death penalty status is linked to its general punitiveness towards criminals.