CYIL 2015

CRIMES AGAINST PEACE IN NUREMBERG of Hohenzollern for an offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties. 10 Due to political reasons, this provision of the treaty was never enforced. 11 On a state level, we may speak further about two important documents: the Kellogg–Briand Pact 12 of 1928 (“parties condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies” 13 ) and the Charter of the United Nations (“parties refrain from the threat or use of force” 14 ). As regards individuals, responsibility for crimes under international law took roots in the Nuremberg trial. 15 The Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal will be subject to the detailed study below. 2. Jurisdiction of the International Military Tribunal over the Crimes Against Peace The decision to punish the major war criminals of the European Axis first found expression in the Moscow Conference dated 30 October 1943. Here, the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and China jointly declared that German men and members of the Nazi Party must be held liable for massacres and executions. 16 On 8 August 1945, pursuant to the Moscow Declaration, the governments of the USA, France, the UK and the USSR signed an agreement in London, which established the International Military Tribunal (hereinafter also the ‘IMT’). 17 The Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal or, synonymously, the International MilitaryTribunal (hereinafter also the ‘Charter’) constituted an annex to this agreement. History knows a number of trials that took place in Nuremberg in 1945 and related to the crimes committed by Nazis. 18 The current paper will deal only with the Trial of the Major War Criminals (hereinafter also the ‘Trial’) and the judgment given at the end of it (hereinafter also the ‘Judgment’). On the basis of the London agreement, the Charter and the Judgment the author will illuminate the jurisdiction ratione temporis, ratione personae, ratione loci, and ratione materiae of the IMT. As regards ratione temporis of the IMT, the Charter does not set forth any particular period to be taken into account. We may receive the more detailed information on the subject from the Judgment given in the Trial. Though the Second World War 10 Versailles Treaty of 28 June 1919. 11 ŠTURMA, Pavel. Význam přijetí Statutu Mezinárodního trestního soudu, cited above, s. 8. 12 Officially titled General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy. 13 Kellogg-Briand Pact, Paris, 27 August 1928. 14 Para. 4, Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations, San Francisco, 26 June 1945. 15 SCHICK, Franz B. Crimes against Peace, 38 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 445 (1947–1948), p. 458. 16 Joint Four-Nation Declaration. The Moscow Conference; October 1943. URL: [cit. 2015-08-10]. 17 London Agreement of August 8th 1945. URL: [cit. 2015-08-10]. 18 The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg between 1945 and 1949. The defendants included Nazi Party officials, high-ranking military officers, German industrialists, lawyers and doctors.

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