The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949, prosecuting leading members of Nazi Germany for war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. The first and best known, the Trial of the Major War Criminals, was conducted before the International Military Tribunal, established jointly by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union under the London Charter of 1945, and ran from November 1945 to October 1946. The trials established that individuals, including heads of state and military commanders, can be held personally criminally responsible for violations of international law, and that following superior orders is not by itself a defense; the resulting Nuremberg principles were later codified by the United Nations International Law Commission and underlie the modern law that established the International Criminal Court.
Facts
Decision Year1946 is the year the main Trial of the Major War Criminals concluded, before the International Military Tribunal. The Nuremberg Trials as a whole comprised that main trial and twelve further subsequent trials, and ran in total from 1945 to 1949, so no single year covers the whole series. Decision Date HoldingThe International Military Tribunal held that individuals, including heads of state and government officials, bear personal criminal responsibility for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and that following superior orders is not a defense to such crimes. Twelve defendants were sentenced to death and others to prison terms; three were acquitted. 1 Current StatusConcluded; judgment delivered 1 October 1946, sentences carried out, and the tribunal's principles of individual criminal responsibility remain foundational to international criminal law. 1 Case Status
Case Status (category) Connections
Associated With
Command responsibility as a doctrine of individual criminal liability for a superior's failure to prevent or punish subordinates' crimes was substantially developed in the post-World War II war crimes trials, of which the Nuremberg Trials are the most prominent example in this atlas. Its more precise origin, the separate Yamashita case, is not yet a live entity here; filed as a mint candidate rather than named as the established-by case. No legal-system entity for international law exists in this atlas, so no in-legal-system edge is written for this doctrine.
The Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946) later prosecuted crimes connected to the racial persecution these 1935 laws enabled; the trials and the laws are distinct entities sharing only the city name.
Source Nuremberg Laws (Wikipedia)
The Tokyo Trials are the direct Pacific counterpart to the Nuremberg Trials, applying the same doctrine of individual criminal responsibility for aggressive war to Japan rather than Germany.
Source International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Wikipedia)
Decided By
The Nuremberg Trials previously carried no decided-by edge because the deciding court had not yet been added to this atlas; the court is added now, so the edge is added with it.
Source Nuremberg Trials (Wikipedia)
In Legal System
Source Nuremberg Trials (Wikipedia)
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Found In
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Sources
1. Nuremberg Trials (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia lead section, tribunal dates
Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 22 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic
Wikipedia 'Verdict' section, sentences
Twelve defendants were sentenced to death: Göring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann.
- Decided By: International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg)
In Legal System: Public International Law, lead paragraph, states the instrument or body is international
The Nuremberg trials were international criminal trials held by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States against leaders of defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of several countries across Europe and committing atrocities against their citizens in the Second World War.
In Group: International Criminal and War Crimes Trials, Introduction, sentence 1
The Nuremberg trials were international criminal trials held by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States against leaders of defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of several countries across Europe and committing atrocities against their citizens in the Second World War.
View the Source Black's Law Dictionary
Bryan A. Garner, editor; founded by Henry Campbell Black, Thomson Reuters, 2019
Nuremberg Laws (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Nuremberg Laws (1935)
International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Tokyo Trials (International Military Tribunal for the Far East)
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