The Nuremberg principles are a set of guidelines formulated by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1950, at the General Assembly's request, identifying the principles of international law recognized in the charter and judgment of the International Military Tribunal that conducted the Nuremberg trials. They establish that individuals, including heads of state, can be held criminally responsible under international law for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that following superior orders or holding official position does not by itself relieve a person of responsibility. The principles are distinct from the Nuremberg trials themselves, which were the proceedings that first applied them, and they became a foundation for later international criminal law, including the statute of the International Criminal Court.
Facts
Key ProvisionFormulated by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1950 at the General Assembly's request, codifying the legal principles applied at the Nuremberg trials of major Nazi war criminals after the Second World War: that individuals, including heads of state, bear personal criminal responsibility under international law for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that acting under superior orders or under domestic law does not relieve an individual of that responsibility. 1 Classification
Document TypeDeclaration or Manifesto 1 Connections
Associated With
The principles of individual criminal responsibility they codified are the direct historical and legal precedent for the Court's own jurisdiction.
Source Nuremberg Principles (UN International Law Commission)
Influenced
The Nuremberg principles' recognition of individual criminal responsibility under international law is a foundation the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court built on.
Influenced By
Nuremberg Trials, Events The International Law Commission codified the Nuremberg principles in 1950, distilling the legal principles applied at the Nuremberg trials into a standalone document.
Sources
1. Nuremberg Principles (UN International Law Commission)
United Nations International Law CommissionDocument type, description
The Nuremberg principles are a set of guidelines formulated by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1950, at the General Assembly's request, identifying the principles of international law recognized in the charter and judgment of the International Military Tribunal that conducted the Nuremberg trials.
- Associated With: International Criminal Court
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.