Crimes Against International Law.
Keenan, Joseph Berry, [1888-1954]. Brendan Francis Brown. Crimes Against International Law. Washington: Public Affairs Press, [1950]. x, 226 pp. Original publisher's cloth bound hardcover, some shelfwear, fading to boards and spine, in worn dust jacket. Internally clean. A good copy. $125. * This work explains the legal basis and consequences of the post-World War II war crimes trials, particularly focusing on the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Keenan served as Chief Counsel for the United States at the Tokyo trial, and Brown was a Juridical Consultant. They provide an historical analysis and recount the arguments used by both the prosecution and the defense. This work centers on the fundamental legal cleavage between the prosecution's contention for a moral notion of law and the defense's position that law is solely the command of a political sovereign. The authors argue that the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials established a body of rules that could serve as precedents for future crimes against international law. The book discusses the "rules of international law" as defined by these trials, the reasons supporting them, and the arguments presented in opposition, offering an appraisal of the development and application of international law at that time. The book includes a bibliography on pages 216-222. "[This volume] by the Chief of Counsel of the Prosecution in the Tokyo Trial and a judicial consultant at the trial constitutes a philosophical and historical examination of the law and procedure of the war crimes trials in general and the Tokyo trial in particular. (...) [The] volume deserves particular study by those interested in the development of international criminal law and will take its place as an important contribution to the growth of international law in general.": Quincy Wright, Journal of Criminal Law 41:803-805, 806 cited in Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 653.
Price: $125.00
Book number 84888