Details
- First book to provide a comprehensive and structured overview of all twelve trials of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals
- Important analysis of how the jurisprudence of these Tribunals has shaped the development of international criminal law and how it remains relevant today
- Based on extensive archival research, citing many little-known records and transcripts
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 (NMTs). The judgments the NMTs produced have played a critical role in the development of international criminal law, particularly in terms of how courts currently understand war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. The trials are also of tremendous historical importance, because they provide a far more comprehensive picture of Nazi atrocities than their more famous predecessor, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT). The IMT focused exclusively on the 'major war criminals'-the Goerings, the Hesses, the Speers. The NMTs, 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'.
The book is divided into five sections. The first section traces the evolution of the twelve NMT trials. The second section discusses the law, procedure, and rules of evidence applied by the tribunals, with a focus on the important differences between Law No. 10 and the Nuremberg Charter. The third section, the heart of the book, provides a systematic analysis of the tribunals' 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 in a criminal organization. The fourth section then examines the modes of participation and defenses that the tribunals recognized. The final section deals with sentencing, the aftermath of the trials, and their historical legacy.
Readership: Scholars and post-graduate students of international criminal law, war studies, and the aftermath of WWII
Introduction1: The Origins of the Zonal Trials2: The OCC and the Tribunals3: The Evolution of the Trial Program4: The Trials5: Jurisdiction and Legal Character of the Tribunals6: Evidence7: Procedure8: Crimes Against Peace9: War Crimes10: Crimes Against Humanity11: Modes of Participation12: Conspiracy, Common Plan, and Criminal Membership13: Defenses14: Sentencing15: Aftermath16: LegacyConclusion Appendix A: Table of Defendants, Charges, Verdicts, and SentencesAppendix B: The London CharterAppendix C: Law No. 10Appendix D: Military Ordinance No. 7 Appendix E: Uniform Rules of Procedure.
Kevin Jon Heller, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Law School
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, an MA and BA in social and political theory from the New School for Social Research, all with honors and a PhD from Leiden University. 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.
"Kevin Jon Heller is a first-rate legal analyst, a fine historian, an expert on international criminal law, and a lucid writer. This timely book will interest anyone who cares about the law's effort to confront radical evil. Those interested in professional and business ethics should find it equally absorbing. It fills a major gap in our historical understanding, and explores doctrines at the cutting edge of today's international tribunals." - David Luban, University Professor in Law and Philosophy, Georgetown University Law Center
"A thorough and nuanced account of the history and legacy of Control Council Law No. 10 Trials in the U.S. occupation zone which is long overdue in the contemporary literature on international criminal justice" - Professor Dr Carsten Stahn, Chair of International Criminal Law and Global Justice; Programme Director, Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, The Hague
"Readers of The Nuremberg Military Tribunals are in Heller's debt. He has rescued the NMT trials from the relative obscurity in which they have languished for many years. This book brings the subsequent trials out from the shadows of the IMT and for that we should be grateful...The effort of synthesizing tens of thousands of pages of trial transcripts, evidential material, autobiographical accounts and judicial decisions deserves our plaudits." - David Fraser, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
"Heller's work provides an excellent basis for a thorough and accurate understanding of the NMT trials." - Roger L. Phillips, Journal of International Criminal Justice
