Nuremberg Trials: Everything You Need To Know In 11 Points
- Yagyansh Nassa
- Aug 25, 2020
- 5 min read
The international law, especially the international criminal law as we know it today, is an outcome of the Nuremberg trials. Undoubtedly, one of the darkest periods in the human history was the genocide of the Jews in the German state, during the former part of the 20th century. An uncountable number of deaths took place on the premise of race and religion. The prime culprit, the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler committed suicide under the apprehension of getting caught by the allied forces, but alongside him there were others too, who supported and promoted him to administer these barbaric mass executions. After the war came to an end and the axis powers were defeated by the powerful allied forces, the international community expected accomplices of Hitler to be executed in the most gruesome of manners, but the allied powers came to an understanding that executing the associates without giving them an opportunity to express their position, would be against the principles of natural justice and will set an incorrect precedent for the countries to treat war crime culprits in the future. Hence, a series of 13 trials were conducted in the city of Nuremberg, based in Germany, to try these malefactors. Let’s examine few interesting facts about the trials: -
1. Statutory provision that governed the tribunal- The London Agreement which formulated the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, was mutually consented upon by the Governments of the major allied powers. The Charter of the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg Charter) was annexed to the London Agreement.
Hence, The Nuremberg Charter was the constitutive instrument of the Nuremberg Tribunal and thereby, it elucidated the edifice of the tribunal and its functions.
2. The structure of the Tribunal was based on different legal traditions, as there were prosecutors and defence attorneys according to British and American legal system, but the decisions and sentences were imposed by a tribunal (panel of judges) rather than a single judge and a jury.
3. The war criminals were charged as per Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter under four broad heads of- (1) crimes against peace (i.e., the planning, initiating, and waging of wars of aggression in violation of international treaties and agreements), (2) crimes against humanity (i.e., exterminations, deportations, and genocide), (3) war crimes (i.e., violations of the laws of war), and (4) “a common plan or conspiracy to commit” the criminal acts listed in the first three counts.
4. A total of 1,672 defendants were tried at Nuremberg, out of which 1,416 were convicted and 200 were sentenced to death, and almost 300 were sentenced to life imprisonment.
5. Out of the total of 13 trials, the trial of major war criminals’ which was conducted from November 20, 1945, to October 1, 1946, is the most acclaimed one. Twenty-four (24) leading Nazi officials, were tried and punished after a total of 216 court sessions. Along with them, six (6) Nazi organizations were also determined as criminal organisations under Article 9 of the charter.
6. As the accused men and judges spoke four different languages, the trial saw the introduction of a technological innovation i.e. instantaneous translation. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provided the technology and recruited men and women from international telephone exchanges to provide on-the-spot translations through headphones in English, French, German and Russian.
7. The officers of the court included 8 judges (each of the allied powers appointed one main and an alternative judge for the trial of major war criminals) and 4 Chief prosecutors (one from each of the allied powers).
8. The indicted included, Hermann Göring (Hitler's former deputy), Rudolf Hess (Deputy leader of the Nazi party), Joachim von Ribbentrop (Foreign minister), Wilhelm Keitel (head of the armed forces), Ernst Kaltenbrunner (head of security forces), Hans Frank (governor-general of occupied Poland), Erich Raeder (head of the navy), Martin Bormann (Hitler's adjutant), who was tried in absentia, amongst others.
9. The Nuremberg Tribunal through its verdict imposed the death sentence on 12 defendants and others were made to retribute, by awarding life imprisonment and prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years, based upon their level of involvement in the offences and outrage caused due to their actions and commands. The court acquitted three defendants: Hjalmar Schacht (economics minister), Franz von Papen (German politician who played an important role in Hitler's appointment as chancellor) and Hans Fritzsche (head of press and radio). The death sentences were carried out on October 16, 1946, with two exceptions: Hermann Göring committed suicide shortly before his scheduled execution, and Bormann remained missing.
10. Two primary criticism of the Tribunal-
i. The charges that were framed against the defendants were enforced as “crimes” in the Nuremberg Charter only after they were committed and therefore the trial was invalid, and thus seen as a form of "victor's justice". They were in violation of the principles of prohibition of ex post facto laws (refers to a criminal statute that punishes actions retroactively, thereby criminalizing conduct that was legal when originally performed) and the general principle of penal law nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali (a person cannot or should not face criminal punishment except for an act that was criminalized by law before he/she performed the act).
ii. The trials were conducted under tribunals own rules of evidence. The Charter of the International Military Tribunal permitted the use of normally inadmissible "evidence". Article 19 specified that "The Tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence ... and shall admit any evidence which it deems to have probative value".
11. Relevance of the Judgement-
i. The trial led to development of 7 Nuremberg principles, which were later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and are today widely considered to represent customary international law (that is, laws that have developed through custom rather than by formal agreement or legislation).
ii. The principle of Individual responsibility under International Law was established. The Tribunal held that Heads of State or Government can also be held liable under international law, for their illegal acts.
iii. ‘Orders by a superior’ as a defence under International law was done away with and was now available in exceptional circumstances only.
iv. The findings at Nuremberg led directly to the formulation of United Nations Genocide Convention (1948) and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), as well as the Geneva Convention on the Laws and Customs of War (1949).
v. In addition, the International Military Tribunal/ Nuremberg Tribunal supplied a useful precedent for the trials of Japanese war criminals in Tokyo (1946-48); the 1961 trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann (1906-62); and the establishment of tribunals for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia (1993) and in Rwanda (1994).
The Nuremberg Trials were a new beginning for the International legal system. The Nuremberg Principles laid down the accountability that an individual and a state holds towards the international community at large. Additionally, the trials provided a foundation to the United Nations, to administer various conventions related to the humanitarian subjects, which weren’t codified before and hence didn’t have strict enforceability. Judge Philippe Kirsch, Former President of International Court of Justice, on 60th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Judgement said that, “The establishment of the International Criminal Court is the natural continuation of the Nuremberg legacy”. Therefore, it can be concluded that though The Nuremberg Trials were correctly criticised for their shortcomings, but they did lay down an enduring bedrock for an impending international criminal judicial system.
References and Further Readings
Cover Image credits: HeinOnline
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