Listening to the recommendation of an international court is about as popular of an idea in America as a “Buy French” campaign these days.

But the ruling last week by the United Nations’ International Court of Justice in The Hague is not a strike against U.S. sovereignty, but a ruling well worth listening to if we think our judicial system to be a shining example in the world.

The international court ruled that the U.S. judicial system should “review and reconsider” the cases of 51 Mexicans currently on death row on the grounds that the Mexicans were not given their right to contact the Mexican consul for legal aid when arrested.

Though the court has no real jurisdiction over our judicial system, this is not a nitpicky scold the U.N. court is making in order to spite America.

The basis for the ruling lies in the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a treaty which the United States willingly entered into.

In fact, during the 1980 Iran hostage crisis, the United States used the same treaty to get the international court to order reparations against Iran and relies on it to protect its citizens abroad today.

It is important to note that the U.N. ruling says nothing about the guilt or innocence of the 51 death row prisoners, or that their sentences be commuted. In all likelihood, even if they did receive their consular rights, most of the Mexicans would have been found guilty anyway, since our judicial system typically doesn’t lightly hand down death sentences, whether the defendant is a U.S. citizen or not.

So why waste time and money reviewing these cases over a mere technicality?

For the same reason why we take the reading of Miranda rights and other basic legal procedures seriously: to ensure integrity and fairness in our justice system.

Furthermore, it appears that the Mexican suspects were not given their rights because local authorities were untrained in how to handle foreign criminals. To take the laborious effort to review these cases, our judicial system would send home the message to law enforcement that these international obligations are important to be aware of.

It’s unfortunate that American officials, both state and federal, are turning their noses at the U.N. court’s ruling to look fashionable.

The Bush administration has a kind of righteous pride about toppling Saddam’s unjust regime in spite of international opposition.

What a strange thing, then, that this anti-United Nations attitude once used to justify ending injustice in Iraq now puts us in danger of promoting injustice in our own country.