The Principle of Legality in International and Comparative Criminal Law Chapter 3: Nuremberg and Tokyo

Abstract

This is a draft Chapter 3 of a book, Kenneth S. Gallant, The Principle of Legality in International and Comparative Criminal Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2009). Chapter 3 covers World War II and the Nuremberg, Tokyo, and other post-War trials. It emphasizes the issues of legality/retroactivity that were raised during the War concerning war crimes and international prosecutions, and that were raised in the negotiations leading up to the London Charter. This chapter also focuses particularly on the French view of legality in the London negotiations and at Nuremberg and Tokyo - which has been far more influential than it has been given credit for being. The Chapter will also cover legality as dealt with by a number of different nations in the aftermath of World War II. The discussion of the Judgment focuses on the claim in the Judgment that nullum crimen was not a limitation of sovereignty or law-making authority at the time. It concludes that this was correct at the end of World War II - and one of the points of the book is that this is no longer so.