Transitional Justice 3001F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Transitional Justice, Henry L. Stimson, Nuremberg Principles
2 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Idea of trying the nazi higher-ups was a contested thing. Henry morgenthau jr. advocate for summary execution: attempts made to try kaiser wilhelm ii after ww1. Just killing them -> very normal historically speaking. Soviets favoured a purge and punish route over prosecution. Henry stimson advocated for legal proceedings like we do with common criminals: convinced others of benefits of a trial, able to pressure soviets and brits to follow along. Novel idea of punishment of individual outside of state boundaries. Established the outlines for the nuremberg trials, aug. 8, 1945. Clear outline of consequences of these trials. Principle 1: individual can be held responsible under international law. Principle 3: officials can no longer use sovereign immunity. Principle 4: no longer defendable under responsibility. Retroactivity: nazi crimes were tried when at the time of the act, the crime was not a crime. War crimes were crimes under the geneva convention.
