MILITARY TRIBUNALS OF THE AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR Then came the Second World War, another major driver of the evolution of international criminal law. The offensive military campaign launched by the German Nazi government and the unspeakable atrocities committed on its orders led the Allied Powers "to punish, through the channels of organized justice, those guilty of these crimes, they ordered or perpetrated or participated in them, one of their main war aims. In Nuremberg, the four major powers (United States, United Kingdom, USSR and France) each appointed a judge and a public prosecutor. These four prosecutors were charged with investigating and prosecuting the principal war criminals responsible for crimes against …show more content…
While the defendants have been fairly treated overall, the fact remains that the unclear rules leave the door open to abuse. Both the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials have advanced the rule of international law, and are generally regarded as archetypes of modern international criminal law. They have left a "moral legacy", but we must recognize that they are imperfect examples, especially with regard to the "international" aspect. Admittedly, judges and prosecutors came from more than one country and the courts invoked the notion of universal jurisdiction, but the fact remains that they were essentially military tribunals instituted by the victors, who drew their unconditional surrender. The rules of procedure and evidence were even less representative of the diversity of judicial systems in the world. They were defined primarily by the Americans and they were inspired by American law. Despite their importance - and many argue that they have survived the test of time as just the articulation of an ever-evolving international law - these courts are not the ideal representation of what one would expect from a neutral or impartial
Primarily because, when a power loses a war does not mean that the reasons for going to was was for a ‘good’ cause. However, this was not the case for the Germans. As Hitler and the Nazi’s were on a mission to seek world domination. This is because Nazi Regime strategically wanted to exterminate an entire ethnic group and races, such as the Soviets, the Gypsies (Eastern Europeans) and the Jews. Therefore, demonstrating ‘Victor’s Justice’ in the tribunal was essential for the Allies. Plus, the show trials illustrated to the world who were the hegemonic powers and what would occur to any power, who chose to step out of
There continues to be a growing debate to this day over the use of international law in the Supreme Court, and even though the case of Roper v. Simmons and Justice Kennedy, are nearly a decade old, they are both frequently
Linking this back to my previous statement, the accused needed to be trialed. The first problem that arises is the fact that the judges can rule how they please towards the accused. We all have times when we feel better than others and this can affect our reasoning as well as our attitude towards certain aspects of life. This statement also applies to the judges when they are in court. Naturally they are supposed to determine whether the accused is guilty of the crime that has happened and come up with a reasonable and suitable punishment but some judges let their personal affairs get in the way. While this might sound strictly unjust to the accused, the judge displays signs of inequality when he or she lets signs of weakness from the victim affect their final verdict. The judge is there to assign a verdict as well as give out the proper punishment that is associated with the crime that was committed. If the judge changes their decision based on their point of view as well as how they feel towards the accused this means that the judge is bias. This creates an inequality between the accused members because if different people have been accused of the same crime and get the same judge they might get different verdicts depending on what the judge thinks and feels about them. Beccaria states that ‘‘we see the same court
World War II officially got under way in 1939 when the Germans, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland and violated nearly every law placed against them from the Treaty of Versailles. It was nearly impossible for the Germans not to violate the Treaty of Versailles because over 100 of the 140 clauses agreed on were targeted against the Germans. The treaty placed the blame for World War I on Germany, forcing them to pay for nearly the entire war in reparations. This led to a German economic collapse, a change in the government of Germany, and also the start of World War II. When Hitler was put into power he began invading other countries and dwindling down the population of his own country, leading to World War II. When World War II started there were two sides to the war, the Axis, consisting of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which formed after the signing of the tripartite pact, and the Allies, consisting of the France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and China. Some of the United States’ most important battles of World War II happened in the Pacific. The Pacific contained a great portion of World War II. The Americans and Japanese accounted for most of the action that occurred. The Japanese had gained a multitude of momentum from the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, a United States military base, the Invasion of Manchuria, in which they took over the country, and the Invasion of China. After these huge victories and mass expansion, the Japanese looked practically unstoppable, but they ran into two major problems; The Battle of Coral Sea, in which the United States defeated the Japanese, hindering their expansion efforts, and the turning point in the Pacific, the Battle of Midway.
In 1943, under Soviet leadership the first war crime trials were conducted, however the first trial to involve the Allied powers was the Nuremburg International Military Tribunal in 1945 . The International Military Tribunal (IMT), set out to prosecute 22 defendants comprising largely of the administration arm of the Third Reich . The American's initially wished to indict whole Nazi organisations for their crimes. This focus was soon altered to determine the accountability of particular individuals. The accused were tried under at least two of the following four headings devised for indictment. The first count was the "formulation of a common plan or conspiracy"; two, "crimes against peace (planning and waging a war of aggression
World War Two was the most devastating conflict in the history of humanity. It crippled many nations and caused millions of people to die. One of the major causes of this disastrous war was the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War. This treaty was destructive towards the Germans. Germany had to pay large amounts of reparations to the Allied nations at the end of World War One resulting in a Great Depression in Germany. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles’ war guilt clause forced Germans to admit full responsibility for starting the war. Furthermore, to gain the support of the German populace, Adolf Hitler adopted an effective propaganda campaign. Adolf Hitler employed a successful propaganda campaign to gain the support of the German people combined with the Treaty of Versailles harsh economic and political sanctions ignited World War Two.
The first World War is recorded down as one of the “deadliest conflict in human history”. With over 16 million dead, it was one of the first wars with a high amount of casualties. However, the one that tops the list with around 60 million deaths was World War II. What caused such a large scale war to happen in the first place? Seven and a half months after World War I, a treaty was signed between the victorious countries, Great Britain, France, United States, and Germany (Overview). It was created with the intention to create peace Europe and ensure that another war like World War I doesn’t happen again. However, the peace was short lived before the second World War engulfed Europe and the rest of the world in a brutal bloodshed. Instead of lasting peace, the Treaty of Versailles contributed greatly to the cause of World War II as it caused humiliation and anger within Germany. The pent up emotions eventually led to the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler, who were angered by their loss in territory, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the war guilt clause.
One of the most well-known trials is the Nuremberg trials. The Nuremberg trials were a sequence of 13 trials that took place in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949. According to history.com, “Nuremberg had been the site of annual Nazi propaganda; holding the postwar trials there marked the symbolic end of Hitler’s government.” The people that were going to be charged were Nazi Party Officials, high-ranking military officers, German industrialists, doctors, and lawyers. They were charged with crimes against peace and humanity. The leader of the Nazi’s, Adolf Hitler took his own life before he could be tried. During the trials, the m...
Who To Blame for the World War II World War II began on the 3rd September when Britain and France declared war on Germany after they had invaded Poland. Ever since the end of WWI Europe had been divided into different camps. The ideas of peace during the 1920s and 30s had been designed to eliminate the gaps between the camps. Unfortunately, this never worked and so Europe was still divided into two main camps when war was declared. Britain and France in Western Europe were the leaders of one camp.
In closing, the criminal trial process has been able to reflect the morals and ethics of society to a great extent, despite the few limitations, which hinder its effectiveness. The moral and ethical standards have been effectively been reflected to a great extent in the areas of the adversary system, the system of appeals, legal aid and the jury
Judgment at Nuremberg The Nuremberg trials took place between 1945 and 1949 and were used to judge the acts of over a hundred judges accused of committing war crimes. The movie "Trials at Nuremberg" dealt specifically with the justice trials. The justice trials adjudicated the criminal responsibility of judges accused of enforcing immoral, unjust, and inhumane laws set by the Nazi party. =
The American Court System is an important part of American history and one of the many assets that makes America stand out from other countries. It thrives for justice through its structured and organized court systems. The structures and organizations are widely influenced by both the State and U.S Constitution. The courts have important characters that used their knowledge and roles to aim for equality and justice. These court systems have been influenced since the beginning of the United State of America. Today, these systems and law continue to change and adapt in order to keep and protect the peoples’ rights.
From 1946 to 1947, the Nuremberg War Crime Trials took place, withfifteen of twenty-three German physicians and research scientist-physicians found guilty of criminal human experimentation projects. The trial court attempted to establish a set of principles of human experimentation that could serve as a code of research ethics. The result was the Nuremberg Code, which attempted to provide a natural law-based set of universal ethical principles.
Prior to WWII any concept of international human rights would not have been able to be Kept. State sovereignty was still the norm leaders around the globe followed when it came to international relations. Of course that all changed after the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime in the Holocaust were exposed to the global community. After what had happen to the Jewish population in Europe at the hands of Hitler's army was reviled to the world, the international community realized that there was something to the whole idea of human rights that could quite possibly go beyond the recognizable sovereignty of independent states(Collaway, Harrelson-Stephens, 2007 p.4). December 17, 1942 was the date that leaders of the allied forces of WWII that included the US, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union came together and issued the first declaration that officially noted and acknowledged the mass murder of European Jews and settled to find a solution to prosecute those responsible for violence against civilians. Because of the type of acts that were committed some political leaders advocated for summary executions instead of trials (Collaway, Harrelson-Stephens, 2007). If you really think about it by doing this the allied forces would have been defeating the purpose of what they were trying to accomplish which was to make those responsible for the acts to pay but by giving them a f...
... middle of paper ... ... Roth argues that the concept of international jurisdiction is not a new idea but was exercised by the US government in the 1970 after an aircraft hijacking. Also, the war crime courts established after the end of World War II exercised international jurisdiction.