The Charter of the International Military Tribunal – Annex to the Agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis (usually referred to as the Nuremberg Charter or London Charter) was the decree issued by the European Advisory Commission on 8 August 1945 that set down the rules and procedures by which the Nuremberg trials were to be conducted. This then served as a model for the

Tokyo Charter The International Military Tribunal for the Far East Charter (IMTFE Charter), also known as the Tokyo Charter, was the decree issued by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Allied-occupied Japan, on January ...

issued months later against the Empire of Japan. The charter stipulated that crimes of the European Axis Powers could be tried. Three categories of crimes were defined: crimes against peace, war crimes, and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

. Article 7 of the charter also stated that holding an official position was no defense to war crimes. Obedience to orders could only be considered in mitigation of punishment if the tribunal determined that justice so required. The

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

used by the tribunal was closer to civil law than to common law, with a trial before a panel of judges rather than a jury trial and with wide allowance for hearsay evidence. Defendants who were found guilty could

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

the verdict to the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority (german: Alliierter Kontrollrat) and also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany and Allied-occupied Austria after the end of Wo ...

. In addition, they would be permitted to present evidence in their defense and to

cross-examine In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and ...

witnesses. The charter was developed by the European Advisory Commission under the authority of the Moscow Declaration: Statement on Atrocities, which was agreed at the Moscow Conference (1943). It was drawn up in London, following the surrender of Germany on VE Day. It was drafted by

Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Unit ...

Robert Falco Robert Falco (26 February 1882 – 14 January 1960) was a French judge at the Nuremberg trials, who later sat in the Cour de Cassation. Biography Falco was born in Paris into a Jewish family. His great-grandfather was decorated by Louis Philippe ...

, and

Iona Nikitchenko Major-General Iona Timofeevich Nikitchenko (Russian: Иона Тимофеевич Никитченко) (June 28, 1895 – April 22, 1967) was a judge of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union. Early life and career Iona was born to a peasant fa ...

of the European Advisory Commission and issued on 8 August 1945. The charter and its definition of crimes against peace was also the basis of the Finnish law, approved by the Finnish parliament on 11 September 1945, that enabled the war-responsibility trials in Finland. The agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis and the annexed charter were formally signed by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States on 8 August 1945. The agreement and charter were subsequently ratified by 20 other Allied states.RatificationsUnited Nations Treaty Series, vol. 82

References

External links

* Links to the International Conference on Military Trials : London, 1945. These documents helps to shows how the Charter reached its final form: *
Aide-Mèmoire from the Soviet Government
June 14, 1945 contained in the

Avalon Project The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. The project contains online electronic copies of documents dating back to the be ...

archive at Yale Law School. *
1945 Amendments Proposed by the United Kingdom
June 28, 1945. contained in the

archive at Yale Law School.
Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 1 Charter of the International Military Tribunal
contained in the

archive at Yale Law School
Judgement: The Law Relating to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
contained in the

archive at Yale Law School, contains the stated expansion of customary law "''the Convention Hague 1907 expressly stated that it was an attempt 'to revise the general laws and customs of war,' which it thus recognised to be then existing, but by 1939 these rules laid down in the Convention were recognised by all civilised nations, and were regarded as being declaratory of the laws and customs of war which are referred to in Article 6 (b) of the Charter." {{Diplomatic history of World War II International humanitarian law treaties War crimes International criminal law treaties Politics of World War II 1945 in law Crimes against humanity Crime of aggression International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg World War II treaties Treaties concluded in 1945 1945 in international relations Treaties entered into force in 1945 1945 in London Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of Denmark Treaties of the Ethiopian Empire Treaties of the Provisional Government of the French Republic Treaties of the Kingdom of Greece Treaties of Haiti Treaties of Honduras Treaties of British India Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Norway Treaties of Panama Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of the Polish People's Republic Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties establishing intergovernmental organizations History of Nuremberg

See also

References

External links