INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague. Tel: +31 (0)70 302 23 23. Cables: Intercourt,
The Hague. Fax: +31 (0)70 364 99 28. Telex: 32323. E-mail address:
[email protected]. Internet address: http://www.icj-cij.org.
Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2003/25
25 July 2003
Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America)
The Court willhold public hearings from 15 to 19 December 2003
THE HAGUE, 25 July 2003. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial
organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the case conceming Avena and Other
Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America) from Monday 15 to Friday
19December 2003 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the Court.
History of the Proceedings
On 9 January2003 Mexico initiated proceedings before the Court against the United States of
America in a dispute conceming alieged violations of Articles 5 and 36 of the Vienna Convention
on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 with respect to 54 Mexican nationals who had been
sentencedto death in certain States of the United States.
Pending final judgment in the case, Mexico further asked the Court to indicate provisional
measures, and in particular to order the Unitedtes to take ali measures necessary to ensure that
no Mexican national was executed, and that no action was taken that might prejudice the rights of
the United Mexican States or its nationals with respect to any decision the Court might render on
the merits of the case.
On 5 February 2003, the Court unanimously adopted an Order indicating provisional
measures. In that Order, it decided that the "United States of America shali take ali measures
necessary to ensure that Mr. CésarRoberto Fierro Reyna, Mr. Roberto Moreno Ramos and
Mr. Osvaldo Torres Aguilera, [ofMexican nationality], are not executed pending finaljudgment in
these proceedings"; that the "United States of America shali inform the Court of ali measures
taken in implementation of this Order"; and that the Court would remain seised of the matters
whichformedthe subjectofthe Orderuntil ithadrendereditsfinaljudgment.
By a separateOrder, also dated 5 February 2003, the Court, taking into account the views of
-the Parties, had fixed 6 June 2003 as the time-limit for the filing of a Memorial by Mexico and
6 October 2003 as the time-limit for the filing of a Counter-Memorial by the United States of
America. By an Order of 22 May 2003, the President of the Court, at the joint request of the
Parties, extended those time-limits to 20 June 2003 for the Memorial and to 3 November 2003 for
the Counter-Memorial. Mexico filed its Memorialwithin the time-limit thus extended. -2-
NOTE TO THE PRESS
1. The public hearings will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in
The Hague, Netherlands. Mobile telephones and beepers are allowed in the courtroom
provided they are turned off or set on silent mode. Any offending deviee will be temporarily
retained.
2. Members of the Press will be entitled to attend the hearings on presentation of a press
card. The tables reserved for them are situated on the far left of the public entrance of the
courtroom.
3. Photographs and TV shots may be taken in the Great Hall of Justice for a few
minutes at the opening of the sittings. The Court's proceedings will be displayed live and in full
on a large TV screen in the Press Room, located on the ground floor of the Peace Palace (Room 5).
There, TV crews may connect their recording deviees directly onto the new video system of the
Court, but advance notice should be given to the Information Department. Joumalists wishing to
make sound recordings of the proceedings may connect their recording deviees directly onto the
Court's own audio system, also in the Press Room.
4. Telephone calls (collect calls only) may be made from the phone located in the Press
Room. Public telephones are located in the Post Office in the basement of the Peace Palace.
5. The verbatim records of the public hearings will be published daily on the Court's website
(www.icj-cij.org) with an appropriate delay for on-line publicationof translations.
6. Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary of the Court (Tel.: +31-70-302-2336), as well as
Mrs. Laurence Blairon and Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officers (Tel.: +31-70-302-2337; e-mail
address: [email protected]), are available to deal with any Press requests.
Avena and other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America) - The Court will hold public hearings from 15 to 19 December 2003