World War I: A Phoenix Moment in the History of International Criminal Tribunals. (26th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bohrer, Ziv; Pirker, Benedikt
• Is Part Of: European journal of international law. Volume 33:Number 3(2022)
• Page Start: 851
• Page End: 887
• Publication Date: 2022-09-26
• Subjects: International law -- Periodicals; International law -- European Economic Community countries -- Periodicals; 341.05
• DOI: 10.1093/ejil/chac045
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0938-5428

Abstract

Abstract: The post-World War II International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg is commonly considered the first-ever international criminal tribunal. It is also often argued that the very idea of an international criminal tribunal emerged after World War I, when the first plans for such a tribunal were drawn up. This article, however, presents a very different account. It shows that international criminal tribunals did not have to wait for their conception until after World War I; nor did they come into being after World War II – they already operated during World War I and the preceding century. The article also demonstrates that the existence of such tribunals did influence the participants of the Paris Peace Conference, even though they portrayed them as novel.