[Home]Nuremberg Trials

HomePage | Recent Changes | Preferences

Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal November 14, 1945 - October 1, 1946

At the meetings in Tehran (1943), Yalta? (1945) and Potsdam (1945), the three major wartime powers of the USA, USSR and Britain had agreed the format to punish those responsible for war-crimes during WW II. France managed to gain a place on the tribunal too.

Nuremberg (Nürnberg) was site for the trials for several reasons. The Palace of Justice was spacious and largely undamaged and a large prison was part of the complex. The Soviet Union had wanted the trials to take place in Berlin. But a compromise agreed that Berlin would be the permanent seat of the IMT and that the first trial (several were planned) would take place in Nuremberg. Because of the Cold War there were no subsequent trials.

Each of the four countries provided one judge and an alternate; and the prosecutors. The defendants were not allowed to complain about the selection of judges.

The main trial
The International Military Tribunal was opened on October 18, 1945, in the Supreme Court Building in Berlin. The first session was presided over by the Soviet judge, Iola T. Nikitschenko. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and six "criminal organizations" - the leadership of the Nazi party, the SS and SD?, the Gestapo, the SA and the High Command of the army. The indictments were for:

1. Conspiracy to commit crimes against peace
2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression
3. War-Crimes
4. Crimes against humanity

The twenty-four accused were (and to ruin the suspense their sentences at Nuremberg; some were subsequently jailed later):

The medical experiments conducted by German doctors lead to the creation of the Nuremberg Code to control future trials involving human subjects.

Influence on the development of international criminal law

The Nuremberg trials had a great influence on the development of [international criminal law]?. The [International Law Commission]?, acting on the request of the [United Nations General Assembly]?, produced in 1950 the report Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nürnberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal (Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950, vol. III). The influence of the tribunal can also be seen in the proposals for a permanent international criminal court, and the draft international criminal codes, later prepared by the International Law Commission.

The Nuremberg trials initiated a movement for the prompt establishment of a permanent international criminal court, eventually leading over fifty years later to the adoption of the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

/IQ of Nazi Leaders at the Nuremberg Trials


HomePage | Recent Changes | Preferences
This page is read-only | View other revisions
Last edited November 28, 2001 10:27 pm by 62.253.64.xxx (diff)
Search: