The tribute of power to reason: The international military tribunal at Nuremberg

Abstract

At the conclusion of the Second World War, the political, economic, and military leaders of Nazi Germany were brought to trial for alleged violations of international law. Rather than summarily executing the accused, the Allies chose to place them before a specially constituted International Military Tribunal (IMT).

The Judgement of the IMT was a clear turning point in the application of international law and provides the legal foundation for all subsequent international criminal tribunals. This Judgement stands for the proposition that individuals who direct and control the acts of the state are responsible for that conduct and may be held personally accountable for conduct that is in breach of international law.

The IMT has been criticised as being simply a political trial of the vanquished by the victors. Certainly the EMT was constituted for the sole purpose of trying the accused major war criminals. However, in analysing the historic development of international law it is clear that the IMT was founded upon existing international law. As such, the Charter of the IMT is merely a codification of pre-existing international law and not, as argued by critics, an ex-post facto creation of the Allies. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)