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Report to the President on the Prosecution of Axis War Criminals

I have the honor to report accomplishments during the month since you named me as Chief of Counsel for the United States in prosecuting the principal Axis WAr Criminals. In brief, I have selected staffs from the several services, departments and agencies concerned; worked out a plan for the preparation, briefing, and trial of the cases; allocated the work among the several agencies; instructed those engaged in collecting or processing evidence; visited the European Theater to expedite the examination or captured documents, and the interrogation of witnesses and prisoners;...

The Nurnberg Trial Becomes an Historic Precedent

The judgment of the first international criminal tribunal in history, and the first to pass judgment on crimes against peace, cannot fail to be of interest to lawyers, statesmen and diplomats over the years. Anyone who desires to rest his estimate of the trial of the Nazi war criminals on accurate, relevant and fairly complete information will find this judgment of the International Military Tribunal the most convenient and impartial source.

Justice Jackson Weighs Nuremberg’s Lessons

The choice that faced President Truman was a simple one. We had captured many enemy war leaders whom the world accused of serious crimes. Three things could be done with them: First, they could be turned free, ignoring the accusations; second, they could be punished without trial; third, there could be hearings to see just who ought to be punished and for what.

Justice Jackson’s Final Report

The International Military Tribunal sitting at Nurnberg, Germany on 30 September and 1 October, 1946 rendered judgment in the first international criminal assizes in history. It found 19 of the 22 defendants guilty on one of more of the counts of the Indictment, and acquitted 3. It sentenced 12 to death by hanging, 3 to imprisonment for life, and the four others to terms of 10 to 20 years imprisonment.

The Influence of the Nuremberg Trial on International Criminal Law

The Nuremberg trials established that all of humanity would be guarded by an international legal shield and that even a Head of State would be held criminally responsible and punished for aggression and Crimes Against Humanity. The right of humanitarian intervention to put a stop to Crimes Against Humanity – even by a sovereign against his own citizens – gradually emerged from the Nuremberg principles affirmed by the United Nations.