. NMT04-T0454
Volume IV · Page 454
| general treaty for the Renunciation of War, more generally known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact, wherein sixty-three nations agreed — |
"Article I. The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies and renounce it as an instrument of national policy in their relations to one another. |
| In spite of this unequivocal universal
condemnation of war, the fifth decade of the twentieth century witnessed a
conflict at arms of global proportions which wrought such devastation on land
and sea and so convulsed organized society that, for many decades yet to come,
men, women, and children in every land will feel and suffer its consequences.
On 8 August 1945, representatives of Great Britain, France, Russia, and the United States met in London and entered into an agreement for the trial of war criminals ascertained to be such. Nineteen other nations expressed their adherence to this agreement. On 30 September 1946, the International Military Tribunal, created by the London Agreement, after a trial which lasted ten months, rendered a decision which proclaimed that Germany had precipitated World War 11 and, by violating international commitments and obligations, had waged aggressive war. The International Military Tribunal, in addition to rendering judgment against specific individuals, declared certain organizations, which were outstanding instruments of nazism, to be criminal. On 20 December 1945, the Allied Control Council, composed of representatives of the same four above-mentioned nations and constituting the highest legislative authority for Germany, enacted Law No. 10, concerning "Punishment of Persons Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Peace, and Crimes Against Humanity". This Tribunal came into being under the provisions of that law, but while the Tribunal derives its existence from the authority indicated, its jurisdiction over the subject matter results from international law valid long prior to World War II. Defense counsel has advanced various arguments on the law applicable to this case. In view of their representations and the gravity of the case itself, the various phases of the law will be discussed with more detail than perhaps ordinarily the situation might require. Under international law the defendants are entitled to a fair |
