The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal LawThis book provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of the twelve war crimes trials held in the American zone of occupation between 1946 and 1949, collectively known as the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMTs). The judgments the NMTs produced have played a critical role in the development of international criminal law, particularly in terms of how courts currently understand war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. The trials are also of tremendous historical importance, because they provide a far more comprehensive picture of Nazi atrocities than their more famous predecessor, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT). The IMT focused exclusively on the 'major war criminals'-the Goerings, the Hesses, the Speers. The NMTs, by contrast, prosecuted doctors, lawyers, judges, industrialists, bankers-the private citizens and lower-level functionaries whose willingness to take part in the destruction of millions of innocents manifested what Hannah Arendt famously called 'the banality of evil'. The book is divided into five sections. The first section traces the evolution of the twelve NMT trials. The second section discusses the law, procedure, and rules of evidence applied by the tribunals, with a focus on the important differences between Law No. 10 and the Nuremberg Charter. The third section, the heart of the book, provides a systematic analysis of the tribunals' jurisprudence. It covers Law No. 10's core crimes-crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity-as well as the crimes of conspiracy and membership in a criminal organization. The fourth section then examines the modes of participation and defenses that the tribunals recognized. The final section deals with sentencing, the aftermath of the trials, and their historical legacy. |
Contents
1 | |
9 | |
2 The OCC and the Tribunals | 25 |
3 The Evolution of the Trial Program | 43 |
4 The Trials | 85 |
5 Jurisdiction and Legal Character of the Tribunals | 107 |
6 Evidence | 139 |
7 Procedure | 159 |
13 Defenses | 295 |
14 Sentencing | 313 |
15 Aftermath | 331 |
16 Legacy | 369 |
Conclusion | 399 |
Table of Defendants | 403 |
Charter of the International Military Tribunal | 465 |
Control Council Law No 10 | 473 |
8 Crimes Against Peace | 179 |
9 War Crimes | 203 |
10 Crimes Against Humanity | 231 |
11 Modes of Participation | 251 |
12 Conspiracy Enterprise Liability and Criminal Membership | 275 |
Ordinance No 7 | 477 |
Uniform Rules of Procedure | 483 |
487 | |
493 | |
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The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law Kevin Jon Heller No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
acts affidavits aggressive Allies Article II(1)(c Atrocities and Offenses Chapter charges Chief Civilian Populations clemency command responsibility Commit Crimes Commit War Crimes Conspiracy to Commit Control Council counsel Count Court Crimes & Crimes Crimes Against Humanity Crimes Against Peace Crimes and Crimes criminal membership Criminal Organization debellatio decision defendant’s defendants Dismissed by Tribunal Division Dresdner Bank Einsatzgruppen evidence execution Farben tribunal Final Report Flick German German Nationals Hague Regulations Hitler’s Ibid IMT Judgment indictment industrialists international law invasion involved Jackson Judge jurisdiction Krupp London Charter McCloy Medical Experimentation Memo mens rea Milch Military Tribunal Ministries tribunal Murder and Mistreatment Nazi NMT trials Nuremberg Nuremberg Trial OCC’s Occupied Territory Office OMGUS Peace Acquitted persecutions Plunder Pohl POWs prosecution prosecution’s Prosecutor Reich RuSHA sentences slave labor specifically t]he Taylor Telford Taylor tribunal held tribunal’s VIII TWC violated War Crimes war-crimes XI TWC