The Forgotten Principles of Nuremberg: Speed and Urgency of the Trial

The article considers the issue of the little-studied principle of the organization and operation of the International Military Tribunal in the case of the main War Criminals of the European Axis countries, namely, the principle of a speedy and urgent trial. The research was based on the acts formalizing the activities of the Nuremberg war criminals trial, as well as documentary materials of a diplomatic nature – notes and statements. The analysis of scientific literature and memoirs of the participants in the process is carried out. The study highlights the special importance of the Soviet Union's position in the international preparation of the trial of the leadership of Nazi Germany. It is considered in detail how representatives of the Soviet government consistently advocated international recognition of the need to hold trials of the leaders of Nazi Germany after the end of the war. The principles that became the basis of the organization and activities of the International Military Tribunal are also largely due to the USSR for their consolidation in the norms of international treaties. A detailed genesis of the legal formalization of the principle of speed and urgency of the court is presented, and specific areas of activity of the International Military Tribunal in which this principle was applied in practice are considered. An assessment of the history of legal consolidation and practical application of the principle under study in the period after the end of the Nuremberg trials is given. Based on the analysis of publications by Russian researchers on the Nuremberg trials, the scientific coverage of this problem in modern Russian legal literature is assessed as insufficiently revealing the importance of this principle for the organization and work of the International Military Tribunal. An assessment of the potential applicability of this principle in modern international criminal proceedings is presented.