The Tokyo Trials, formally the Trial of Japanese Major War Criminals, were conducted before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, sitting at Ichigaya, Tokyo, from 29 April 1946. Twenty-eight high-ranking Japanese military and political leaders were tried on charges of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity; judgment was delivered 4-12 November 1948, and seven defendants were executed by hanging on 23 December 1948. The tribunal is the direct Pacific counterpart to the Nuremberg Trials and extended the same doctrine of individual criminal responsibility for aggressive war to Japan.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingTwenty-eight Japanese military and political leaders were held individually criminally responsible under international law for war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, extending to the Pacific theater the same doctrine of individual responsibility for aggressive war established at Nuremberg. 1 Current StatusConcluded, but a live scholarly controversy rather than a settled record: critics describe it as victors' justice, noting Allied conduct such as strategic and atomic bombing was excluded from prosecution while Emperor Hirohito was shielded from any charge despite one sitting judge, William Webb, arguing a ruler cannot escape responsibility for launching aggressive war; personnel of Unit 731 received immunity, and Class C charges for atrocities against Japan's own colonial subjects were never pursued. The doctrine of individual responsibility for aggressive war it applied nonetheless stands alongside Nuremberg's as founding precedent for later international criminal law. 1 Case Status
Case Status (category) Case Status (category)Controversial / Debated 1 Connections
Associated With
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)
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Source International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Wikipedia)
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Source International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Wikipedia)
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Sources
1. International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Wikipedia)
- Background and Judgment sections
Judgment section
plain, ordinary murderers
- Legacy and criticism section
- Decided By: International Military Tribunal for the Far East
- In Category: Landmark Cases
- Associated With: The Nuremberg Trials
International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Wikipedia)
In Legal System: Public International Law, lead paragraph, states the instrument or body is international
The Tokyo Trial lasted more than twice as long as the better-known Nuremberg trials, and its impact was similarly influential in the development of international law; international war crimes tribunals would not again be established until the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1993 and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1994.
In Group: International Criminal and War Crimes Trials, Introduction, sentence 1
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946, to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity, leading up to and during World War II.
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