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Decides the argument that the trials were illegitimate because they were international is invalid. With Germany's surrender, he contends, its government was dissolved, making it impossible to try Germans under a nonexistent legal system.

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Argues that the Allies have the full right to set up the tribunal, as their provisional government has sovereignty over Germany. He thinks that the crimes under old German law Knieriem references as capable of trying Nazi war criminals fail to fully capture the extent of their actions during the war.

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Argues in favor of lex loci, as he believes that German law should punish crimes committed on German soil, which the Allies have no legal jurisdiction over. He thinks that, since prior international law made no mention of the individual, it is incapable of resulting in indictments.

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Before the London Charter, no international body capable of administering justice in such a manner existed. As a result, a common Nazi defense was that the tribunal didn't hold the jurisdiction to try people for the crimes laid out in its charter.

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The Nuremberg Tribunal Charter § 6 enables the tribunal to try any person acting in Axis’ interest, individually or as part of a group. It goes on to list the specific crimes under the jurisdiction of tribunal, for which any perpetrator can be held individually responsible.

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Recognizes that the trials were created to bring the Nazi regime to justice, as a result of public outcry against the atrocities it committed. Therefore, in the completion of such an immense goal, certain imperfections can be overlooked.

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Argues that, since the trials had no precedents to act off of and were instead creating them, some procedural faults are excused. Further, even, international law is formed differently than is national, meaning such differences are bound to exist.

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Criticizes the tribunal for allowing the prosecution's use of hearsay or presumed facts as evidence, which was then accepted as fact by the judges. To him, such use of highly questionable information would disqualify any typical court as legitimate.

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This clause made the tribunals very different from those typical of Western Powers, as it removes basically any restrictions on evidence, which led to the use of purported testimonies

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The Nuremberg Tribunal Charter § 19 calls for as much nontechnical procedure as can be implemented, allowing the court to use any evidence it deems of value and specifically not binding the tribunal to technical evidence

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Believed the only fair tribunal would be one composed of Germans,  as the rest of the world would simply impose attributive justice. He argues that the Allied tribunal was both unfair and illegitimate.

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Acknowledges some legitimacy to the "victor's justice" claim, as he believes the Allies not being tried for similarly horrific acts (e.g. bombing civilians, Soviet POW camps, Katyn Forest massacres) is extremely unfair and violates the principle of tu quoque.

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Argues that letting Germans try themselves would result in the horrors of the Holocaust being left unavenged. Additionally, since Nazi actions were legal under German law, he thinks it would be impossible for the Nazis to be brought to justice under lex loci.

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Instead of trying to defend their horrific actions in court, many defendants tried to undermine the tribunal itself, claiming it to be biased and an example of victor's justice since Allied judges presided over it.

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The Nuremberg Tribunal Charter § 2 places four judges on the tribunal, one from each of the major Allied powers (US, UK, USSR, and France) who were all (obviously) were from the winning side

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Argues that this charge was somewhat justified by existing international agreements but recognizes that wordings were stretched beyond a typical amount. He notes that Nazi crimes were not clearly defined before the war and contends that nullum crimen sine lege is basic principle of law.

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Understands that the charge was created retroactively but believes it was a necessity. Otherwise, there would be no way to prosecute Nazis for the atrocities of the Holocaust.

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Argues that there were no laws existing, German or international, that made Nazi actions illegal at time they happened. He believes that Nazis must be brought to justice for their horrible actions during the war but believes the only fair way to do this is through preexisting German law.

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The 1945 Nuremberg Tribunal Charter § 6(c) created the charge "crimes against humanity," which outlawed inhumane acts against civilians and the persecution of religious/racial/political groups, regardless of national law when such acts were perpetrated

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One of the main four defenses of the Nazi accused was that the "crimes against humanity" charge was a new concept, created after the war's end. Therefore, Nazis could not have known what they were doing was illegal.

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Gale and ABC-Clio Database articles

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The London Charter, establishing and outlining the trials

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An American jurist and expert on international law who published a 1946 review of Nuremberg, preceding the official committee report.

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An American prosecutor at Nuremberg who published an article in 1961 deconstructing Knieriem's arguments.

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A German jurist and former general council to Nazi Germany's "mammoth enterprise," he was indicted at Nuremberg. Following his acquittal, he became a vocal critic of the trials.

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A historian who wrote the book Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II, in which he examines the ethics of the Nuremberg Trials.