RECENT CASES: INTERNATIONAL LAW - TREATY REMEDIES - SEVENTH CIRCUIT FINDS IMPLIED RIGHT OF ACTION IN VIENNA CONVENTION ON CONSULAR RELATIONS. - Jogi v. Voges, 425 F.3d 367 (7th Cir. 2005)

It has been said that treaties are compacts or contracts among nations rather than conventional "law." Little wonder, then, that fitting them within the domestic legal framework is so vexing. Recently, in Jogi v Voges, the Seventh Circuit concluded that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations provides foreign defendants with an implied cause of action to enforce their rights under the Convention, becoming one of the first courts in the country to allow monetary damages as a remedy for breach of the "right to consul." Though awarding damages is preferable to either disregarding the treaty or invoking the exclusionary rule, Jogi's strained analysis demonstrates that the traditional congressional intent-oriented approach to finding implied causes of action in statutes is inappropriate for treaties. And although Jogi's approval of damages for Convention violations may protect the public's interest in justice at home as well as in protection while traveling overseas, similar treaty enforcement in the future is uncertain unless courts adopt an interpretive approach that recognizes the differences between international agreements and domestic laws.