. NMT03-T1029
Volume III · Page 1029
| MEMBERSHIP IN CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS |
| C. C. Law 10, article II, paragraph 1(d), provides: |
"1. Each of the following acts is recognized as a crime: |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
"(d) Membership in categories of a criminal group or organization declared criminal by the International Military Tribunal." |
| Article 9 of the IMT Charter provides: |
"At the trial of any individual member of any group or organization the Tribunal may declare (in connection with any act of which the individual may be convicted) that the group or organization of which the individual was a member was a criminal organization." |
| Article 10 of the IMT Charter is as follows: |
"In cases where a group or organization is declared criminal by the Tribunal, the competent national authority of any Signatory shall have the right to bring individuals to trial for membership therein before national, military or occupation courts. In any such case the criminal nature of the group or organization is considered proved and shall not be questioned." |
| Concerning the effect of the last quoted section, we quote from the opinion of the IMT in the case of United States, et al., vs. Goering, et al., as follows: |
"Article 10 of the Charter makes clear that the declaration of criminality against an accused organization is final and cannot be challenged in any subsequent criminal proceeding against a member of the organization."* |
| We quote further from the opinion in that case: |
"In effect, therefore, a member of an organization which the Tribunal has declared to be criminal may be subsequently convicted of the crime of membership and be punished for that crime by death. This is not to assume that international or military courts which will try these individuals will not exercise appropriate standards of justice. This is a far reaching and novel procedure. Its application, unless properly safeguarded, may produce great injustice." |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
"A criminal organization is analogous to a criminal conspiracy in that the essence of both is cooperation for criminal |
* Trial of the Major War Criminals, op cit., volume I, page 255.
907802 — 51 — 67
