The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg

Abstract

It is impossible to overestimate the contribution of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg to the development of international criminal law. The IMT was a far cry from a military court. It was composed of four Judges and four Alternates: one from each of the four Big Allied Powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, the USSR and France). The Nuremberg trial of 1945/1946 has set the stage for the establishment of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Rome Statute of 1998. Sixteen of the defendants in the Nuremberg trial were convicted of traditional war crimes. It is true that, in certain respects, the state of the law has undergone some important changes in the Rome Statute, but the statute does not follow in the footsteps of Nuremberg. Keywords:International Criminal Court (ICC); international criminal law; International Military Tribunal (IMT); Nuremberg; Rome Statute; traditional war crimes