The Nuremberg Trials 75 Years On: Precedents, Catalysts and Inevitable Limitations

On 20 November 1945, the first of the military trials of prominent members of the political, military, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany opened in the city of Nuremberg, Germany. The Nuremberg trials were a milestone in international criminal law, under which individuals are held accountable for some of the worst crimes imaginable. The trials, and the principle of individual criminal responsibility they espoused, paved the way to the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court, as well as numerous ad hoc or specialised tribunals set up to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in different parts of the world.

This panel of eminent experts looks back on the legal precedents set at Nuremberg, some of the major innovations of the trials and some of their inevitable limitations. In particular, the panel considers the precedential value of the trials and the Nuremberg Principles on modern-day international criminal law. It also considers the role of the trials in developing new understandings about corporate responsibility for international crimes. The panel also considers the limitations of the trials to address specifically, crimes against women and gender based violence more broadly.

Agenda

Welcome
Dr Andrew Fagan, Director of the Essex Human Rights Centre

The Nuremberg Precedent and Impact on the Development of International Criminal Law
Professor Olympia Bekou, Head of the School of Law, University of Nottingham

The Holocaust, Women and Gender-Based Violence: Exploring the Nuremberg Gap
Dr Rochelle G. Saidel, Founder and Executive Director of the Remember the Women Institute
Dr Stacy Banwell, Principal Lecturer in Criminology, University of Greenwich

Chair: Dr Carla Ferstman, Senior Lecturer, University of Essex School of Law

The Trials of the Industrialists and Influence on the Development of Corporate Accountability
Professor Michael Bazyler, Professor, 1939 Society Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies, Chapman University
Professor Sabine Michalowski, Professor, University of Essex School of Law and Human Rights Centre

Chair: Dr Carla Ferstman, Senior Lecturer, University of Essex School of Law

Q&A with the audience
Chair: Dr Andrew Fagan, Director of the Essex Human Rights Centre

Find out more about other events taking place during Holocaust Memorial Week.

Image credit: United States Army Signal Corps photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.