Changing the Paradigm of International Criminal Law: Considering the Work of the United Nations War Crimes Commission of 1943–1948

Plesch, Dan; Sattler, Shanti

Abstract

More than 2,000 international criminal trials were conducted at the end of World War II in addition to those held by the International Military Tribunals (IMTs) at Nuremburg and Tokyo. Fifteen national tribunals conducted these trials in conjunction with an international war crimes commission established by these same states in October 1943 under the name, The United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes, that soon became the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC). The extensive work of the UNWCC and these tribunals serves as a source of customary international criminal law that relates directly to the current work of the International Criminal Court and the ad hoc tribunals in operation since the 1990s.

Citation

Plesch, D., & Sattler, S. (2013). Changing the Paradigm of International Criminal Law: Considering the Work of the United Nations War Crimes Commission of 1943–1948. International Community Law Review, 15(2), 203-223. https://doi.org/10.1163/18719732-12341252

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Jun 5, 2016
• Journal: International Community Law Review
• Print ISSN: 1871-9740
• Electronic ISSN: 1871-9732
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 203-223
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18719732-12341252