International Cooperation

The Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office (MDPDO) represents people from all over the world. Miami-Dade County has the highest immigration rate in the US. Many people from North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and other areas enter the US through Miami-Dade County or are later attracted to this area as residents or visitors. Consequently, many Public Defender clients are not US citizens. The following information is intended to describe some of our international cooperation efforts, provide information to our clients, their families and the public, and improve client representation.

Our office and the consuls of numerous countries interact in many areas, to the advantage of our foreign clients and their families, our defense function and to save taxpayers' dollars.

Consular contact may be advisable regarding numerous matters. For pertinent contact information, go to Embassies and Consulates Serving Miami.

If you need to contact a defender office or defender service in a jurisdiction outside of Miami-Dade County, the following defender contacts may be able to assist you:

• Florida Public Defender Association: www.flpda.org
• Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers: www.facdl.org
• National Legal Aid Defender Association: www.nlada.org
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers: www.criminaljustice.org

Cooperation Between Consulates and the Miami-Dade Public

Case Related Support

Consuls can cooperate with MDPDO in the investigation, preparation and dispositions of cases by:

• Developing Sentencing Alternatives;
• Working with Prosecutors as Advocates for waiver of the death penalty and not transferring juveniles to adult court;
• Helping Foreign Nationals Serve Their Sentences in Their Home Countries;
• Obtaining Evidence, documents and witnesses in the US and other countries;
• Providing Referrals and resources that aid MDPDO in the constructive resolution of cases;
• Providing Expert Witnesses such as psychologists familiar with national culture, or pay expert fees that local courts would not; and
• Facilitating Access to Translators. Normally, the local courts will provide interpreters for about 80 languages. However, our clients may need the services of interpreters or translators for languages not usually spoken in Miami-Dade County. In cases in which interpreters are not readily available, consulates may be of assistance.

Client Related Support

Consuls can support MDPDO clients by:

• Enhancing Clients' Confidence in the judicial process and in our office, increasing clients' willingness to cooperate with us in the preparation of their defense;
• Improving Family Contact, enabling our clients' families in other countries to help us provide better representation with resources that might otherwise be unavailable;
• Helping Our Office Identify Organizations that may assist our clients in the US and in the clients' home countries. For other defender collaborations, please see MDPDO's Anti-Violence Initiative; and
• Promoting Defender Liaison. Public defenders in other countries defend Miami-Dade County residents. Contact with a country's consulate in Miami or the MDPDO may be beneficial to those clients. Also, our office may be of assistance with regard to contacting witnesses or obtaining necessary documents for legal representation. The cooperation that we and other Public Defenders can offer is restricted by our limited resources.

Consular Notification Relating to the Vienna Convention

Lack of compliance with law enforcement obligations under the Vienna Convention often deprives our clients of their right to consular support. Although notifying consuls is not the responsibility of MDPDO, we have implemented an automated system for consular notification when requested by our detained clients who are foreign nationals.

Consular officers have the right to visit, converse and correspond with a national of their country who is in custody and to arrange for the national's legal representation. Consular officers must refrain from taking action on behalf of a national, if he expressly opposes such action.

According to the Florida Department of State, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations ". . . now establishes the 'baseline' for most obligations with respect to the treatment of foreign nationals in the United States. . . ."; The department also states that ". . . the freedom and safety of Floridians abroad are seriously endangered if state and local law enforcement officials fail to honor the Vienna Convention and other nations follow their example."

Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (articles 5, 36) a citizen of another country (whether in this country legally or illegally) arrested or detained in any manner in the US, has the right to request the authorities to inform the consulates of the detainee's country about the arrest or detention. Every foreign national also has the right to be informed without delay of these rights.

For nationals of certain countries, consular notification by law enforcement of an arrest is mandatory and does not depend upon the arrestee's decision. For a list of countries where mandatory notification applies click here.

For more information regarding consular notification and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations click here.

Serving Criminal Sentences in Clients' Home Countries

The US has signed multilateral and bilateral treaties under which a sentence imposed in the US may be served in the sentenced person's home country (if that country is a party to one of these treaties). Such a transfer is intended to facilitate the social rehabilitation of prisoners. For information about Applicable Treaties on Transfer of Sentenced Persons, click here.

Terms and conditions vary country-to-country and treaty-to-treaty. Transfer may be requested by either the State where the sentence was imposed, the foreign national's home country or the sentenced person. However, consent by all three is required. Once a person has been sentenced in Florida and the legal proceedings are over (no appeals or collateral proceedings are pending) the sentenced foreign national, their defense attorney or their consulate can request a package to start International Prisoner Transfer procedures by writing to:

International Prisoner Transfer Coordinator
Governor's Legal Office
The Capitol, 400 South Monroe Street, Suite 209
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
 

Once the package is completed and received by the Governor's Legal Office, the transfer coordinator will contact the foreign country's authorities and obtain the consent and information necessary. This process may take between six months and a year. The final decision is within the governor's discretion. If the governor consents to the transfer, the International Prisoner Transfer Unit at the US Department of Justice will complete the process.

Applicable Treaties

• The Council of Europe Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Persons (COE), also known as the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (Strasbourg, 3/21/83). This treaty has been ratified by 58 countries, including the US. For more specific details, see COE.
• Interamerican Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad. This treaty has been signed by the US, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela. Ecuador and Paraguay are pending ratification. For more information about this treaty, click here.
• Bilateral Treaties. The US has bilateral prisoner transfer treaties in force with Bolivia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Peru, Thailand and Turkey. For information about an individual treaty, click on the country.
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Criminal Aspects of Deportation Issues

MDPDO handles state criminal court aspects of deportation only. For instance, when appointed by the court, we represent clients who allege that their pleas of guilty were not knowing or voluntary. We have no authority to handle other immigration issues.

The National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) maintains a website that contains motions and other documents useful to immigrants in Florida. To access the documents, please go to www.nlada.org/Defender/Defender_Immigrants, then click on show related documents in the “Explore E-library” section. Anyone needing legal assistance should consult an immigration attorney as this is a complicated and changing area of law.

In the near future, MDPDO intends to work with consulates to develop training regarding the law and procedure involved in making legal claims and requesting the court to appoint MDPDO.

Technical Assistance in Support of International Democratic Initiatives

Numerous defender organizations, foreign governments and agencies of the US government (including the Departments of State, Justice, USAID and the Navy) have sponsored site and technical assistance visits to our office by foreign justice representatives. The MDPDO has provided these visitors with training and technical assistance regarding justice system structure and processes, management and office technology, legal reform, the defense function, and advocacy skills. To view a description of our integrated management information system, click here. For the Spanish version, click here. The visitors have come singly and in large delegations, and have included supreme court justices, judges, public defenders and other defense attorneys, prosecutors, legislators, and military officials from the following countries:
 

In addition to hosting foreign representatives, the MDPDO has been provided resources from various sources to supply technical assistance and training in a number of these countries and to US defender offices.