The United Nation’s high court has attempted to step in and stall the execution of a number of Mexican nationals currently on death row in the United States. Mexico asked the World Court to intervene after they found supposed errors in the way the US handled the trials of 51 of their citizens resulting in the death penalty. According to Mexico, the US judicial system deprived the Mexican citizens in question their right to seek consular assistance guaranteed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in 1963. According to the article 36 of the treaty, every country has the right to know when one of its citizens has been charged with criminal activity while abroad and communication between the state and its citizen should be permitted

While the court is still reviewing whether or not the presence of consular assistance would have made a difference in the case of the 51 individuals, they have ordered that the US put a moratorium on all related executions. Although the court’s rulings are considered binding, their inability to enforce the order leaves everyone wondering what the US response will be. Previous attempts by the Executive branch to stall the executions have been ignored by the courts holding to their sentences.

Source: Yahoo! News