The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law

by Heller, Kevin Jon

• ISBN13: 9780199554317
• ISBN10: 0199554315
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-07-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This 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 (NMT). The judgments these Tribunals produced have played a critical role in the development of international criminal law, particularly in terms of how courts currently understand genocide, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. The trials are of tremendous historical importance, because they provide a far more comprehensive picture of Nazi atrocities than the main Nuremberg Trial (IMT). The IMT focused exclusively on the 'major war criminals'-the Goerings, the Hesses, the Speers. The NMT, 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'. This book starts by tracing the history of the NMT. It then discusses the law and procedure applied by the NMT, with a focus on the important differences between Control Council Law No. 10 and the Nuremberg Charter and on the protection of the defendants' right to a fair trial. The third section, the heart of the book, provides a systematic analysis of the NMT's 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 of a criminal organization. This section also analyzes the general principles of liability that the Tribunals applied and on the defenses they did -and did not- recognize. The final section of the book deals with the aftermath of the trials and their historical legacy.

Author Biography

Kevin Jon Heller is a Senior Lecturer at Melbourne Law School, where he teaches criminal law and international criminal law. He has a JD from Stanford Law School, an MA in literature from Duke University, and an MA and BA in social and political theory from the New School for Social Research, all with honors. His work has appeared in the European Journal of International Law, the American Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Criminal Justice, the Michigan Law Review, the Leiden Journal of International Law, and many others. On the practical side, Kevin has been involved in the International Criminal Court's negotiations over the crime of aggression, served as Human Rights Watch's external legal advisor on the trial of Saddam Hussein, and has consulted with the defense in a number of cases at the ICTY and ICTR.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Table of Cases	p. xiii
Table of Instruments	p. xvi
Introduction	p. 1
From the IMT to the Zonal Trials	p. 9
The OCC and the Tribunals	p. 25
The Evolution of the Trial Program	p. 43
The Trials	p. 85
Jurisdiction and Legal Character of the Tribunals	p. 107
Evidence	p. 139
Procedure	p. 159
Crimes Against Peace	p. 179
War Crimes	p. 203
Crimes Against Humanity	p. 231
Modes of Participation	p. 251
Conspiracy, Enterprise Liability, and Criminal Membership	p. 275
Defenses	p. 295
Sentencing	p. 313
Aftermath	p. 331
Legacy	p. 369
Conclusion	p. 399
Table of Defendants	p. 403
Charter of the International Military Tribunal	p. 465
Control Council Law No. 10	p. 473
Ordinance No. 7	p. 477
Uniform Rules of Procedure	p. 483
Bibliography	p. 487
Index	p. 493
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