TRIAL PRINCIPLES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 135, 9 June 1945, Page 7

TRIAL PRINCIPLES

HISTORICAL BASIS

(By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright.) 'WASHINGTON,.June 7.

Urging sure punishment for the guilty, and giving a warning against dilatory tactics in. the trial procedure, Mr. Justice Jackson, of the Supreme Court, who is the chief United States counsel in the prosecution of war criminals, has made a report to President Truman.

"The trials should not be regarded in the same light as those .under the American system, where defence is a matter of constitutional right," he said, "but fair hearings for the accused are, of course, required in order to ensure that we punish only the right men for the right reasons. Failure to try those accused would mock the. dead make cynics of the-living." . _ Mr. Justice Jackson added that he had received an assurance from the United States War Department that I those who were likely to be accused as war criminals would be kept in close confinement, under stern control. The preparations which were being made for the prosecution of the major war criminals would not impede, or delay the trials of other offenders guilty of lesser crimes. The negotiations for an international, military tribunal representing Britain, America, France, and Russia were not yet completed, but the American case was being prepared on the assumption" that an inescapable responsibility tested on the United States to conduct an inquiry, preferably in association with the others, but alone if necessary, into the culpability of those whom there was probable cause to accuse of atrocities and other crimes. • •> It was proposed to make provision for others of the United Nations to become adherents of the suggested fourPower military tribunal. THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE. Mr. Justice Jackson said: 'The United States intends to bring to trial whole organisations, including the Gestapo and Storm Troopers, and all Wfho have had a hand in the Nazi master plan, including the members of the German general staff and all who have committed racial and religious crimes. "We will accuse a large number of individuals and officials who were in authority in the Government, in the military establishments, and in the financial, industrial, and economic life of Germany who can be proved to be common criminals. If voluntary organisations are found to be criminal, the only defence of an individual member will be personal extenuation, such as a claim that he participated under duress, and the burden of proving that defence will be the responsibility of the accused. "The guiding: principle will be that criminal acts include those things which have fundamentally outraged the conscience. We propose to punish acts which have been regarded as criminal since the time of Cain and have been so written in every civilised ■code. Through these trials we should be able to establish that the process of retribution by law awaits those who in future similarly attack civilisation. "We should not recognise such a defence as the obsolete doctrine that* the head of a State is immune from legal liability. There is more than a suspicion that this idea is a relic of the doctrine of the Divine right of kings, which is inconsistent with the position the United States takes towards its own officials. We do not accept the paradox that the legal responsibility should be least where the power is greatest. We stand on the principle of responsible government as declared three centuries ago' to King James by Lord Chief Justice Coke, who proclaimed that even the King is still under God and the law. THE NAZI MASTER PLAN. "Our case against the major defendants is concerned, with the Nazi master plan, not. with individual barbarities and perversions which occurred independently of any central plan. The groundwork of our case must be factually authentic and constitute a welldocumented history of what we are convinced was a grand concerted pattern to incite and commit the aggressions and barbarities which shocked the world. "We must not forget that when the Nazi plans were boldly proclaimed they were so extravagant that the world refused to take them seriously. Unless we write the record of this movement with clarity. and precision we cannot blame the future if, in days of peace, it finds incredible the accusatory generalities uttered during the war. .We must establish incredible events with credible evidence. "The United States will maintain a legal position based oh common-sense justice which is relatively simple and non-technical. We must not permit it to be complicated or obscured by the sterile legalisms which were, developed in the age of imperialism to make war respectable. "What appeals to. men of good will and common sense as .a crime which comprehends all the lesser crimes is the crime of making unjustifiable war. War .necessarily is a calculated series of. killings, destruction of property, and oppressions. Such acts unquestionably would be criminal, except that international law throws a mantle of protection round acts which otherwise would be crimes when committed in. the pursuit of legitimate warfare. I Innovations' and revisions in international law are brought about by the. actions of Governments designed to meet changes from time to time, adapting settled -principles to new situations. Hence lam not disturbed by the lack of precedent for the inquiry we propose to conduct. It is high time that we acted on the juridical principle that aggressive war-making is illegal and criminal." ' AGGRESSION AS A CRIME. Mr. Justice Jackson cited the Kellogg Pact of 1928, by which Germany, Italy, Japan, and practically • all the other nations renounced war, and said: "Unless this pact altered the legal status of wars ox aggression it has no meaning at all and comes close to being an act of deception: We therefore propose to charge that war of aggression is a crime and that modern international law has abolished the defence that those who incite or wage it are engaged in legitimate business. Thus may the forces of law be niobilised on the side of peace. "We stand at one of those rare moments when the thought, institutions, and habits of the world have been shaken by the impact of the World War on the lives of countless millions. Such occasions rarely come and quickly pass. We must direct the world's thought to firmer enforcement of the j laws of international conduct so as to | make war less attractive." President Truman told a Press conference that he was in complete agreement with the proposal for the prose-, cution of German industrialists for war crimes as well as the. German general staff. There was no prospect that the United States would have to conduct the trials alone, as Britain had already consented to an international tribunal, and it was believed that France and Russia would do so soon. j