Nuremberg Forty Years After Summary

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Birkett, J. (1947). International Legal Theories Evolved at Nuremberg. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), 23(3), p.317-25
This primary source is a document by Justice Birkett, a British judge that was present throughout the entire Nuremburg trials. Due to his ethnicity, it was easily identifiable that his anti-Nazism standpoint was well appointed. Justice emphasised absolute pro-allied ideologies and was an avid supporter of the Nuremburg trials. The main themes of the primary source circulate around Justice defending the mass disapprovals that the trials accumulated during such time. For example, criticisms against the court were that only allied officials and judges were present during the ruling. Justice's …show more content…

It is divided into a section for each author: Moral and ethics, legalities and the legal problems. A problem highly critiqued in the book was the executing orders of superior personnel. Prior to the Nuremberg trials it was an accepted plea however in this instance the claim was rejected. Furthermore, it was stated that the Kellogg-Briand Pact did not sufficiently accommodate to the legalities in terms of the crimes against peace. The book states that the Nuremberg trials were indeed fair to the defence however, the allies used the trials as political vengeance. The second part of the book goes into analysing the achievements of Nuremberg and the misapprehensions. These misapprehensions are critiqued in terms of the behaviour governments have with the lack of law against nuclear weapons. If Nuremberg set out to achieve a new mindset with war and peace, why are there no sanctions against nuclear weaponry? This book was essential in understanding how the trials set an example for future international law against warfare. The criticism the law takes is extremely interesting as it seemed as if the laws had not been entirely fulfilled. This book is essential reading as unlike many other documents it provides evidence against the Nuremberg trials, thefore presenting a different frame of thinking to the