From Nuremberg To The Hague: Imperfect Justice By Victor’s Justice. A Critical Analysis Of The Evolution Of International Criminal Law
- IJLLR Journal
- Sep 23
- 2 min read
Adv. Parthik Choudhury, LL.M., School of Law, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, Punjab
ABSTRACT
Historically, it has been seen, The Nuremberg Trials of 1945–46 stand as one of the most pivotal, and yet most contested, milestones in the development of international criminal law. It marked the first concerted attempt to hold individuals, including heads of state, personally responsible for crimes that shocked the conscience of humanity. Yet, as it has been witnessed over the years, despite its utterly baffling triumph, the trials have long been subjected unyielding scrutiny owing to it being an exercise in victors’ justice, further diseased by the retroactive application of novel legal hierarchies, the selective exclusionary process of Allied atrocities during the expanse of World War II, and the inescapable political character of the entire process. This macabre dual legacy is immensely entrenched within the echelons of contemporary international justice apparatus, notably in the International Criminal Court. Furthermore, this paper shall endeavour to explore the fault lines that plagues Nuremberg’s foundational promised premise and its irrevocable shortcomings. It shall further evaluate the degree to which denunciated aspersions of arbitrariness, partiality, and political malice at Nuremberg shaped the later ad hoc tribunals that followed, particularly the International Criminal Tribunals of the ICC for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, before turning to the ICC as the first permanent institution of its kind. This paper enquires whether the ICC, which finds it codification under the Rome Statute, the procedural safeguards, and principle of complementarity, fortuitously eclipsed Nuremberg’s flaws, or whether it remains imprisoned within the same shackles of selectivity and geopolitical influence. Drawing on historical analysis with the pre-existing doctrinal study, and lingering controversies, the research shall argue that the ICC embodies both continuity and progress. While it has institutionalised more vigorous protections of fairness and commands greater permanence than Nuremberg ever fathomed, its record—particularly the disproportionate focus on African leaders, its dependence on Security Council referrals, and its continuing inability to prosecute figures from powerful states—reveals leviathan evidences of imbalance and political vulnerability.
Keywords: Nuremberg Trials, Victors’ Justice, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Law, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
