43 / 464
29
CRIMES AGAINST PEACE IN NUREMBERG
Article 1 of the London agreement gives an explanation on the IMT’s jurisdiction
ratione loci
: “…
offenses have
no particular geographical location
”.
26
Given the
territory touched by the conflict from 1939 to 1945, it is understandable. The
IMT in the course of the Trial have dealt with all the crimes under its jurisdiction
committed in any country in the world.
Jurisdiction
ratione materiae
of the Nuremberg Tribunal in general was envisaged
in Article 6 of the Charter. It included: (a) crimes against peace; (b) war crimes; and
(c) crimes against humanity. In the next section we will focus in detail on the first of
them, namely, the crimes against peace.
3. Crimes against peace and its particularities
As was said before, Article 6 of this Charter establishes the jurisdiction of the IMT
over crimes against peace. This provision defines the crimes as „
planning, preparation,
initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international
treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy
for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing”
.
27
A memorandum submitted by the
UN Secretary-General distinguishes between two categories of crimes against peace:
(I) planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in
violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances; and (II) participation in
a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of “any of the foregoing”.
28
This distinction was also reflected in the indictment of the IMT. Count One was
titled ‘The common plan or conspiracy’. The statement of the offense under this
count included planning, preparation and initiation of all the three crimes under
the jurisdiction of the IMT. Count Two ‘Crimes against peace’ was seen as “
the
planning, preparation, initiation, and waging of wars of aggression, which were also wars
in violation of international treaties, agreements, and assurances
.“ On the basis of this
provision we may see that the IMT distinguished between two types of wars, namely:
1) the war of aggression; 2) wars in violation of international treaties, agreements,
and assurances. The last category may be divided into three, namely in respect of
the treaties, agreements, and assurances. The practice of the IMT in this regard did
not follow the theory. In the indictment with reference to the statement of offense
DER NSDAP (commonly known as the “SA”); and the GENERAL STAFF and HIGH COMMAND
of the GERMAN ARMED FORCES.
26
London Agreement, cited above.
27
Charter of the International Military Tribunal. London, 8 August 1945. URL:
<http://avalon.law.yale.
edu/imt/imtconst.asp> [cit. 2015-08-10].
28
The Charter and Judgment of the Nürnberg Tribunal – History and Analysis: Memorandum submitted
by the Secretary-General. Document:-A/CN.4/5.