nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg Trials was a series of trials that indicted, assessed, convicted and punished potential war criminals within the Nazi Party. They were held between 1945 to 1948, where over 150 defendants were tried under an international court. There were three main types of crimes that could be charged; crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The initial trial was governed by a legal council called the International Military Tribunal (IMT), with legal council chosen from the four main Allies after the war; the USSR, France, the USA and the UK. All subsequent trials were handled by a mostly-American legal council. The defense council could be chosen by the defendants, which led to prominent and well-esteemed lawyers defending prominent Nazi leaders.
The IMT did not allow the defense of 'superior orders'; that is to say, alleging that a superior gave them their command will not be a valid defense, but only mitigate the sentence. Another defense not allowed was the tu quoque, or you too, defense; this basically said that the defendant could not say that the Allied forces committed the same types of crimes.
The initial trial was governed by a legal council called the International Military Tribunal (IMT), with legal council chosen from the four main Allies after the war; the USSR, France, the USA and the UK. All subsequent trials were handled by a mostly-American legal council. The defense council could be chosen by the defendants, which led to prominent and well-esteemed lawyers defending prominent Nazi leaders.
The IMT did not allow the defense of 'superior orders'; that is to say, alleging that a superior gave them their command will not be a valid defense, but only mitigate the sentence. Another defense not allowed was the tu quoque, or you too, defense; this basically said that the defendant could not say that the Allied forces committed the same types of crimes.