Nuremberg judgment: Seven decades later

Abstract

International criminal law, as a system of legal regulations contained in the acts of the international community, as well as in the national (internal) criminal legislation of individual states, provides for criminal accountability and punishment for a large number of international criminal acts. These are acts that violate the laws of war and customs of war (international humanitarian law), infringing or endangering peace between nations and the security of mankind. For these criminal acts, the international criminal law prescribes the most severe penalties and measures known in the criminal law today. For the perpetrators of these criminal acts, in certain cases, the international (supranational) judicial bodies, such as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, have primary jurisdiction. The paper analyzes the significance of the Nuremberg Tribunal for development of international criminal law: concept and characteristics of international criminal acts and principles of criminal accountability.