Convencion De Viena/ Caso La Grand

International Court of Justice

LaGrand Case

(GERMANY v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
27 June 2001

JUDGMENT

Present: President Guillaume; Vice-President Shi; Judges Oda, Bedjaoui, Ranjeva, Herczegh, Fleischhauer, Koroma, Vereshchetin, Higgins, Parra-Aranguren, Kooijmans, Rezek, Al-Khasawneh, Buergenthal; Registrar Couvreur.

In the LaGrand case,

between

the Federal Republic ofGermany,

represented by

Mr. Gerhard Westdickenberg, Director General for Legal Affairs and Legal Adviser, Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany,

H.E. Mr. Eberhard U. B. von Puttkamer, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of the Netherlands,

as Agents;

Mr. Bruno Simma, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Munich,

asCo-Agent and Counsel;

Mr. Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Paris (Panthéon-Assas) and at the European University Institute in Florence,

Mr. Donald Francis Donovan, Debevoise & Plimpton, New York,

Mr. Hans-Peter Kaul, Head of the Public International Law Division, Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany,

Mr. Daniel Khan,University of Munich,

Mr. Andreas Paulus, University of Munich,

as Counsel;

Mr. Eberhard Desch, Federal Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany,

Mr. S. Johannes Trommer, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Netherlands,

Mr. Andreas Götze, Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany,

as Advisers;

Ms Fiona Sneddon,

as Assistant,

andthe United States of America,

represented by

Mr. James H. Thessin, Acting Legal Adviser, United States Department of State,

as Agent;

Ms Catherine W. Brown, Assistant Legal Adviser for Consular Affairs, United States Department of State,

Mr. D. Stephen Mathias, Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations Affairs, United States Department of State,

as Deputy Agents;

TheHonourable Janet Napolitano, Attorney General, State of Arizona,

Mr. Michael J. Matheson, Professor of International Law, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; former Acting Legal Adviser, United States Department of State,

Mr. Theodor Meron, Counsellor on International Law, United States Department of State; Charles L. Denison Professor of International Law, New YorkUniversity; Associate Member of the Institute of International Law,

Mr. Stefan Trechsel, Professor of Criminal Law and Procedure, University of Zurich Faculty of Law,

as Counsel and Advocates;

Mr. Shabtai Rosenne, Member of the Israel Bar; Honorary Member of the American Society of International Law; Member of the Institute of International Law,

Ms Norma B. Martens, Assistant AttorneyGeneral, State of Arizona,

Mr. Paul J. McMurdie, Assistant Attorney General, State of Arizona,

Mr. Robert J. Erickson, Principal Deputy Chief, Appellate Section, Criminal Division, United States Department of Justice,

Mr. Allen S. Weiner, Counsellor for Legal Affairs, Embassy of the United States of America in the Netherlands,

Ms Jessica R. Holmes, Attaché, Office of the Counsellorfor Legal Affairs, Embassy of the United States of America in the Netherlands,

as Counsel,

The Court,

composed as above, after deliberation, delivers the following Judgment:

1. On 2 March 1999 the Federal Republic of Germany (hereinafter referred to as "Germany") filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against the United States of America (hereinafterreferred to as the "United States") for "violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations [of 24 April 1963]" (hereinafter referred to as the "Vienna Convention").

In its Application, Germany based the jurisdiction of the Court on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and on Article I of the Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes, which...