. NMT03-T1062
Volume III · Page 1062
| The Night and Fog decree was in violation of
the international law as recognized by the Paris Conference of 1919 in that the
NN prisoners were deported to Germany and forced to labor in the munitions
plants of the enemy power. The foregoing documents establish beyond dispute that they were so employed in munitions plants with the sanction and approval of the Reich Ministry of Justice under the approval of the defendant von Ammon. The extent of activity and the criminality of the defendants who participated in the execution and carrying out of the Night and Fog decree will be discussed under the summation of the evidence relating to each such defendant. Each defendant has pleaded in effect as a defense the act of State as well as superior orders in justification or mitigation of any crime he may have committed in the execution of the Night and Fog decree. The basis for individual liability for crimes committed and the law relating thereto was clearly and ably declared by the IMT judgment which reads as follows: |
“It was submitted that international law is concerned with the actions of sovereign states, and provides no punishment for individuals; and further, that where the act in question is an act of state, those who carry it out are not personally responsible, but are protected by the doctrine of the sovereignty of the State. In the opinion of the Tribunal, both these submissions must be rejected. That international law imposes duties and liabilities upon individuals as well as upon States has long been recognized. In the recent case of Ex parte Quirin (1942 317 U. S. 1), before the Supreme Court of the United States, persons were charged during the war with landing in the United States for purposes of spying and sabotage. The late Chief Justice Stone, speaking for the Court, said: |
* Ibid., pp. 222-223.
