. NMT03-T1180
Volume III · Page 1180
"On the other hand, subjugation or conquest implies a transfer of sovereignty. Ordinarily, however, such transfer is effected by a treaty of peace. When sovereignty passes, military occupation, as such, must of course cease; although the territory may, and usually does for a period at least, continue to be governed through military agencies which have such powers as the President or Congress may prescribe." |
| And as concerns the administration of occupied territory, the same rules of land warfare require — |
"285. The laws in force. — The principal object of the occupant is to provide for the security of the invading army and to contribute to its support and efficiency and the success of it; operations. In restoring public order and safety he will continue in force the ordinary civil and criminal laws of the occupied territory which do not conflict with this object. These laws will be administered by the local officials as far as practicable. All crimes not of a military nature and which do not affect the safety of the invading army are left to the jurisdiction of the local courts. |
| Manifestly this Tribunal, created for the
sole purpose of trying and punishing war criminals in the broadest sense of
that term as used in Control Council Law No. 10, has not by such law been given
any jurisdiction to determine matters relating to the far reaching power or
authority which the foregoing rules authorize a military occupant to exercise
provisionally. In consequence, the lengthy discussion of the far reaching power
or authority which the Allied Powers are now exercising in Germany has no
material relation to any question before us for determination, and particularly
the question of the "source of the authority of Control Council Law No. 10".
Certainly this Tribunal has no jurisdiction to determine whether or not the
military or executive authorities have exceeded their authority or whether or
not they are exercising in fact the sovereign authority of Germany, or whether
by her unconditional surrender Germany has lost all sovereignty. The exercise
of such powers has to do with provisional matters of occupation and operates
presently and in future. Our jurisdiction extends to the trial of war criminals
for crimes committed during the war and before the unconditional surrender of
Germany. This jurisdiction is determined by entirely different laws.
Under the foregoing rules of military operation there is no rule which would, because of the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces, transfer the sovereignty of Germany to the |
