Nuremberg After Seventy-Five Years: A Reflection and Assessment of its Influence on International Law

Seventy-five decades have elapsed since the conclusion of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT). Its influence on international law has been incalculable. Its two main contributions have been the concepts “crimes against humanity” and “crime of genocide”. The former concept was owing to the influence on the proceedings of Hersch Lauterpacht, and the latter to that of Raphael Lemkin. Lauterpacht was an academic from Cambridge University, and Lemkin was an academic from Duke University. The concept “crimes against humanity” ultimately got a central role in the proceedings and, for the first time in history, was recognised to be an established part of international law. None of the IMT defendants were found guilty of genocide but the introduction of the concept during the proceedings led to the speedy adoption of the 1948 Genocide Convention.