CYIL 2015

ALLA TYMOFEYEVA

CYIL 6 ȍ2015Ȏ

officially launched on 1 September 1939, this type of jurisdiction of the IMT was

limited to the period

from 24 February 1920 to 8 May 1945

. The starting date

is the day when Adolf Hitler announced the German Labour Party’s program.

to the ending date, in most of the former Soviet Union republics 9 May 1945 is

considered to be the last day of World War II. There are disputes as to authenticity

of this date among the European states as far as the western countries celebrate the

end of this war on the preceding day. The author chose the date in question on the

basis of the Judgment stating that “

All the defendants, with divers other persons, during

a period of

years preceding 8 May 1945

, participated

…“

Many authors criticise

the retroactivity of the IMT and selective prosecution.

Usually,

ratione temporis

international courts commences for the respondent state from the date of ratification

of the corresponding treaty by this state party.

Ratione personae

jurisdiction is specified already in the title of the London agreement.

The IMT in the Trial dealt only with the cases of

the major war criminals

of the

European Axis

. Neither the London agreement nor the Charter gives a definition or

any clarification on this term. In the course of World War Two, the three main partners

in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy, and Japan. Regarding the Axis in Europe, in

different periods of the war, Nazi Germany also offered economic aid and military

protection to Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria. Nonetheless, in view

of the historical reality, the Trial concerned only Germans. The concrete defendants

here were Goering, Hess, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick,

Streicher, Funk, Schacht, Doenitz, Raeder, von Schirach, Sauckel, Jodl, von Papen,

Seyss-Inquart, Speer, von Neurath, Fritzsche and Bormann.

All of them,

inter alia

were accused of committing crimes against peace. Moreover, the London agreement

clarifies that the persons may be accused “

individually or in their capacity as members

of the organizations or groups or in both capacities

”.

The indictment in issue includes

the names of the groups or organizations to which the defendants belonged.

The Judgment of the IMT. URL: <

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/judnazi.asp#origin

> [cit. 2015-08-10].

Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 1. Indictment: Count One. URL:

<http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/

count1.asp> [cit. 2015-08-10].

SELLARS, Kirsten. Imperfect Justice at Nuremberg and Tokyo.

EJIL

(2010), Vol. 21 No. 4, p. 1089;

WANHONG, Zhang. From Nuremberg to Tokyo: Some Reflections on the Tokyo Trial (On the

Sixtieth Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials).

Cardozo Law review, Vol. 27:4, p. 1675;

CLARK, Roger

S. Nuremberg and the Crime Against Peace, 6 Wash. U.

Global Stud. L. Rev. 527 (2007), p. 539-540.

See, for example, the European Convention on Human Rights, 4 November 1950.

The Judgment of the IMT, cited above.

Article 1 of the London Agreement, cited above.

DIE REICHS REGIERUNG (REICH CABINET); DAS KORPS DER POLITISCHEN LEITER

DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (LEADERSHIP CORPS

OF THE NAZI PARTY); DIE SCHUTZSTAFFELN DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN

DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (commonly known as the “SS”) and including DER

SICHERHEITSDIENST (commonly known as the “SD”); DIE GEHEIME STAATSPOLIZEI

(SECRET STATE POLICE, commonly known as the “GESTAPO”); DIE STURM ABTEILUNGEN