Criminal charges in the international Nuremberg trial against judges (1947): Reflections on International Criminal Procedural Law

Authors

Abstract

In this paper we will study the deontological content of the Nuremberg trials of the judges. To guide our reflections, we formulate the following research question: What were the deontological-valuative foundations that justified the planning and execution of the trial of the Nazi jurists, which dismantles the argument according to which it is suggested that it was a political trial of revenge against the vanquished? Our hypothesis assumes that the trial of the judges and prosecutors was justified because the Nazis used the judicial apparatus as a means of persecution, intimidation and execution against opponents, Jews and anyone suspected of threatening the hegemonic power wielded by Adolf Hitler and his followers. We are guided by the following specific research objectives: 1- To study the structure of the National Socialist legal system. 2- To review the deontological content of the trial against the Nazi judges and prosecutors and, 3- To understand the evaluative legitimacy of the trial in the face of law and history. For the review of the literature and secondary sources, we will use the hermeneutic-interpretative methodology of Malpas (2015) with a qualitative historical-hermeneutic approach. We will be assisted by the theoretical formulations of Gustav Radbruch and the analytical philosophy of law presented by Ricardo Guastini.

Keywords:

Nuremberg Trials, Genocide, Radbruch Formula, International Criminal Law