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[de...] fendant with reference to property located in Poland, France,
Alsace-Lorraine, Norway, and Russia.
The Law Applicable to Plunder
and Spoliation
The pertinent part of Control Council Law No. 10,
binding upon this Tribunal as the express law applicable to the case, is
Article II, paragraph (1), subsection (b), which reads as follows:
|
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"Each of the following acts is
recognized as a crime: |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
“(b) War
Crimes. Atrocities or offences against persons or property
constituting violations of the laws or customs of war, including but not
limited to, murder, ill treatment or deportation to slave labour or for any
other purpose, of civilian population from occupied territory, murder or ill
treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages,
plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities,
towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.”
(Emphasis supplied.) |
This quoted provision corresponds to Article G, section (b) of the
Charter of the IMT, concerning which that Tribunal held that the criminal
offenses so defined were recognized as war crimes under international law even
prior to the IMT Charter. There is consequently no violation of the legal maxim
nullum crimen sine lege involved here. The offense of plunder of public
and private property must be considered a well-recognized crime under
international law. It is clear from the quoted provision of the Control Council
Law that if this offense against property has been committed, or if the proof
establishes beyond reasonable doubt the commission of other offenses against
property constituting violations of the laws and customs of war, any defendant
participating therein with the degree of criminal connection specified in the
Control Council Law must be held guilty under this charge of the indictment.
Insofar as offenses against property are concerned, a principal
codification of the laws and customs of war is to be found in the Hague
Convention of 1907 and the annex thereto, known as the Hague Regulations.
The following provisions of the Hague Regulations are particularly
pertinent to the charges being considered: |
| |
“Art. 46. Family honor and
rights, individual lives and private property, as well as religious convictions
and practice, must be respected. Private property cannot be confiscated.
“ Art. 47. Pillage is formally
prohibited. |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
"Art. 52. Neither requisition in
kind nor services can be demanded from communes or inhabitants except for the
necessities of the |
1131 |
. 
