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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:
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.
- 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:
(links to
embassies provided where available)
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.
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