The procedural and evidentiary rules of the post-World War II war crimes trials: Did they provide an outline for international legal procedure?

This Article examines and analyzes the rules of evidence and procedure applied in the trials of major war criminals at Nuremberg and Tokyo and in a representative sampling of the trials that have followed. It reaches several conclusions. First, the rules of procedure were devised by American lawyers who based them on American law. Second, the intentionally amorphous nature of those rules left room for fair or unfair trials, for just or unjust results. Finally, the author echoes Telford Taylor to emphasize the importance of studying the historical lessons to inform the shaping of legal proceedings in the future.