Critical Analysis Of Jurisprudence Idea On Tokyo War Trial
The allied Power consisted of the member country France, the United Kingdom,
the United state of America, and the united soviet socialist republic (USSR)
presently known as Russia had won the war and defeated the Axis power consisting
of the member country Germany, Italy, and Japan. The victorious allied group
established IMT (International Military Tribunal) in Nuremberg, Germany was main
aim to punish and prosecute military personnel and political leader for crimes
against peace including violation of any international treaties customs, and
laws war crimes, and atrocities against human violation of their right and
threaten their life by using force and military equipment upon them.
The trial was headed by US army General Douglas MacArthur Latter on the lesser
International Military tribunal for the east (IMTFE) setup in Tokyo was not
created through an international agreement like IMT (International Military
tribunal).
In 1945 the pots dam declaration was signed by the USA china and the United
kingdom strongly criticized the action of Japan during world war II in which all
three countries demanded surrender and stern justice for all the victims of
world war and soon will be the military personnel and higher political officer
should be arrested in Japan but the Japan did not follow the declaration order
and war with Japan was continuing on that same day the united State of America
dropped the second atomic bomb at Nagasaki after six days latter the Japan had
surrendered. In 1946 the annexed post dam declaration Japan agreed to sign and
adhere to the declaration order and set up the International Military Tribunal
for the East (IMTFE) in Tokyo.
The International Military tribunal for the east (IMTFE) has the same
jurisdiction as the IMT (International Military tribunal) to punish and
prosecute military personnel and political official for crimes against peace
including violation of any international treaties customs and laws war crimes
and atrocities against human right violation Crime against individual
disturbance of world peace and atrocities against humanity.
Background Of Tokyo Trial
After the second world war countries decided to punish the individual who was
behind the world war and had the capacity to stop the war but could not do it.
The international military tribunal (IMT) was established in Nuremberg, Germany
as an outcome of an international agreement its main aim was to prosecute war
criminals but In Japan, military personnel had not surrendered yet and they are
still participating in the war so, therefore, to prosecute war criminal of Japan
the three-nation china, united kingdom and the united state of America in 1945
signed the Potsdam declaration called for Japan "unconditional surrender"
and declared that "stern justice shall be meted out to all war".
The war in Europe had ended but the war with Japan was continuing so at that
time Potsdam declaration was signed Japan did not stop the war after the passing
out of the declaration the soviet union did not sign the declaration because it
did not announce the war on Japan after a few weeks later the United state of
America did not have the option to stop Japan to end the war and therefore on
that same day the united State of America second time bombarded the city
Nagasaki with atomic bomb after six-day latter the Japan had surrender.
The Japan military personnel signed The International Military Tribunal for the
Far East (IMTFE). It was an outcome of the Potsdam declaration or an
international agreement to prosecute war criminals of Japan and it is not
similar to the International military tribunal (IMT) was set up by an
international agreement.
In the Moscow conference which was held in December
1945 the united state of America, the soviet union (presently known as Russia),
and the united kingdom headed by General Mac Arthur who was a supreme commander
of the Allied power all three countries agreed to a dictatorship government
ruling the Japan and basic structure in subjugation to a Japan government and
thus General Mac Arthur was given an order to "issue all orders for the
implementation of the Terms of Surrender, the occupation, and control of Japan,
and all directives supplementary thereto."
Germany General Mac Arthur established
the International Military Tribunal for the Fast East (IMTFE) in Nuremberg in
January 1946. He used his authority to make a declaration that was attested to
the IMTFE's charter. The jurisdiction to bring charges against someone for
crimes against humanity and war crimes was outlined by the International
Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), and it was very similar to the
definition given in the International Military Tribunal (IMT) or Nuremberg
Charter.
The International Military Tribunal (IMT), also known as the Nuremberg Charter,
gave General Mac Arthur the power to choose the judges for the IMTFE from
countries like Australia, Canada, China, France, India, the Netherlands, the
Philippines, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of
America, which also included nations that had signed Japan's instrument of
surrender.
There were also prosecution teams in each of these nations. However, it had
jurisdiction over offenses that occurred between 1931, when Japan occupied
Manchuria and turned it into a colony, and 1945 when Japan finally submitted to
the Allies. Nine top Japanese government figures and eighteen military officers
were prosecuted under its auspices.
The International Military tribunal for the fast east (IMTFE) ruled all of the
defendants guilty and sentenced them to punishment ranging from the imprisonment
of seven years to the death penalty. There were two defendants who died during
the trial. The member of the Japanese Imperial family and Japanese emperor
Hirohito was not included in the prosecution of the nine judges. The aim of this
article is to briefly define the background and facts of the popular Tokyo
trials for prosecuting war criminals in Japan.
The Tokyo trial has always been the apple of discord between the two schools of
jurisprudence positivism and the natural school of jurisprudence. Both schools
argue distinct opinion over the Tokyo trial positivist school argue that it is
conducted to full fill their ulterior motive and hence they argue that before
world war II no rule was made for the prosecution of war crimes and Criminalize
of destructive warfare had not taken place, therefore, the individual held not
liable and prosecute for participating and initiating in it.
On the other hand, the natural school argues that Japan promotes a dictatorial
form of government and is devoid of morality. To punish the actions of the
Japanese dictatorship government, it is necessary to prosecute the war criminals
of Japan.
Issue To Conduct Fair Tokyo Trial
There are many questions related to the issue. To conduct a fair and transparent
trial in Tokyo there should not be a scope of Injustice with the Japan
prosecute. The first dilemma is whether the principle of natural law helps to
achieve justice at the Tokyo trial of the victims of World war II or if the just
trial is conducted based on natural law theory as a weapon for revenge by the
victorious allied group.
The second dilemma was whether in the trial right of prisoners in the name of
morality and setting precedent were considered and whether the trial was based
on the principle of equality applied to all the nation. There are many jurists
who have argued that no tribunal was established to prosecute the war criminal
of United States of America political leaders and Military personnel for
bombarding the city Nagasaki and Hiroshima with an atomic bomb and in the
international sphere it is termed a victor justice and many classic philosophers
argue that victor belongs to the justice.
Nobody can ever justify the molestation of thousands of Chinese women by the
Japanese military personnel and the judgment was passed by the two tribunal
International Military tribunal for the fast east (IMTFE) and IMT (International
Military tribunal) by the way justice was meted out will victorious cast
aspersion in the mind on lots of Japanese people. All of the questions remained
unanswered for the jurist and will continue to hang out for the decade to come.
Jurisprudential Conflict Over Tokyo Trial
There have always been loggerheads ideologically between two giants of
jurisprudence: the Natural Law and the Analytical Positivist School. After the
second world war, the trial had been started to prosecute the war criminals of
Japan and Nuremberg which is truly reflective of the fact that jurists have a
distinctive opinion over the Tokyo war-crime trial. The natural law jurist
argued that an individual gets a fair and unbiased trial without ulterior
motives before a court which negatively affects the individual dignity.
There is another law jurist who argued that through the path of natural law we
cannot achieve justice and by using natural law as a medium justice cannot be
achieved. Mala Fide's motives were completed in the name of justice by different
powerful countries. There were no free and fair trials of war criminals in Japan
while prosecuting the war criminals in Japan it showed that jurists have
disguised arguments some supported the Tokyo trial arguing that Japan promotes a
dictatorial form of government and is devoid of morality to punish the act of
Japan dictatorship government it is necessary to prosecute the war criminal of
Japan but other jurists argue that powerful country with Ulterior motive and
Mala intention to prosecute the war criminal of Japan to show their power in the
world stage and they were not conducted a free and fair trial of war criminal of
Japan. Therefore history truly reflects that justice differentiated as vendetta
was provided while prosecuting the war criminals of Japan to punish their acts
done during world war II.
The Tokyo trial played a very significant role and is bound to become a focal
point in the deliberation on international law. The two schools of jurisprudence
positivist and natural law school have a conundrum between the two colossi of
the jurisprudence to make their mark with a witness in the Tokyo trial. The
positivist school argued that before world war II no rule was made to prosecute
the war criminal and Criminalize destructive warfare had not taken place
therefore the individual was held not liable and prosecuted for participating in
and initiating aggressive warfare.
On the other hand, the natural school argues that Japan military personnel had
committed an abominable crime against the doctrine of individual responsibility
which states that public conscience stemmed from morality. According to the
principle of natural law, justice cannot be achieved if morality is not
protected and the crime committed by the Japanese military personnel and
political leader has stirred the moral standard of the nation across the globe
and Japan promotes the dictatorial form of government and its devoid of morality
to punish the act of Japan dictatorship government it is necessary to prosecute
the war criminal of Japan. The American prosecutor Joseph Keenan defines trial
in their own words as "served as a cockpit for a death struggle between two
completely irreconcilable and opposed types of legal thinking."
The two American law professors Lon L. fuller and his correspondent H.L.A Hart
demonstrated the debate between the natural law and positivist law philosophy in
the Tokyo trial in which they argue that the dynamic of conventional law is
distinct from the international law and law and morality are a separate term
which demonstrated the exchange of idea of debate between natural law and
positivist law philosophy.
The American law professor H.L.A Hart supported the positivist view in arguing
that law and morality were separate and believe that separation between the law
as it is and the law as should be according to this philosophy legal rights and
moral rights of the individual are not related to each other. The H.L.A Hart
believes that the method of deciding the judgment of a case is through logic and
deduction and not through social and moral aims.
On the other hand, American law professor Lon L. fuller had a totally opposite
view and criticized the philosophy of American law professor H.L.A Hart
supported the Natural view and believe that law and morality are correlated to
each other and morality is the source of law binding power and believe that
foundation of law based on the common morality of the law.
The American law professor Lon L. Fuller was a prominent natural law jurist who
deliberated the protagonist's view on the Tokyo trial. He was an ardent
supporter of the fact that conventional law or customary law is differentiated
from the changing international law. According to him, the law is made by the
divine and people act as a medium to maintain the affairs of the state and
protect the sovereignty taken in the gloss of Blackstone Philosophy which
concentrates the idea on the law being dictated by the divine or any supreme
authority himself.
According to the Blackstone law of nature, the law is stated by the divine
himself concentrating on the maxim that the king cannot do any wrong to the law
made by the god himself and therefore it is a supreme authority of the law and
it is superior to any other law at the time being.
There are some other great legal philosophers who emphasized the idea that the
law is totally devoid of human desire binding to people at that time whereas
after the introduction of natural law emphasized the idea that law morality and
the divine should be the foundation stone to govern the people at the time
being.
It had been observed that all the archaic laws during the ancient period were
based on the combination of religion and divine order; it was not distinguished
from the law. Friedrich Gierke stated that natural law as unity derived its
power from the theory of divine rule that God made the law himself consist of
one faith, one empire, and one church.
It was a drift from the ideologies of the modern classical era of natural law
school including thinkers like Hobbes, Kant and Rousseau amalgamated from the
theory of divine sources and formed the legal principle on humans separately. He
believed that the extensive ambition of nations to acquire land and resources of
other countries and make their colonies led to the circumstance of world war II
which caused aggressive warfare among countries and shook the foundation of
humanity.
The American law professor Lon L. Fuller's idea traces can be found in Gustav
Radbruch's theory which he criticized for the emergence of ideologies like
Nazism and fascism and strongly criticized the dictatorial form of government
led by Japan. He stated that a pan's aggressive and brutal invasion of their
neighboring country had caused a moral catastrophe to threaten the life of
individuals infringing their rights and violating the natural order of peace in
the world.
It is a very challenging factor for the world to put a stop to Japan's invasion
of neighboring countries because if the Japan had right to change its
geographical and economic standards by invasion on other country territory and
capturing their resource and participating in aggressive brutal warfare then
every other nation had the same right thus it badly impact the world peace order
if every country conquered another country territory in the seek of expansion of
their country territory and capturing the precious resources of other countries.
The argument was divided into two categories of war, the first one for restoring
peace and bringing back normalcy called them just wars the second one is unjust
nature which wreaked havoc. This made disturbed the peace and integrity of the
state.
The American law professor Lon L. Fuller supported the Tokyo trial and argued
that the trial will help as a vade mecum for development and progress in
international law so that nuclear war included in the unjust war category will
be prevented in the future and stop massive destruction of human resources and
life. He believes that natural law is a category that permits us to evaluate
positive law and to measure its intrinsic justice taken from the view of Del
Vecchio, philosopher of natural law.
There was a loggerhead between the ideology of the hideous axis power and the
nobility of the allied power. The two American law professor Lon L. Fuller
quoted his emanated claim that the 'rich, deep odor of the witches' cauldron'
his legal philosophy is based on the contention that positivist law assertions
to save humankind and maintain world peace was nothing but utopia. It had a
deeper meaning than words.
His discussion on crime against peace had a pressing concern about the Mala
Fide's intention of prosecuting authorities and not conducting a free and fair
trial in the Tokyo Trial it reminisced about the destruction caused by the power
in Asia between Allied power and axis power. Owing to his deeper concern he
argues about the charge and trial conducted to prosecute the Japan war criminal
by axis power for egocentric reasons for the sake of maintaining "Have and
Holder '' the status quo which has been maintained by force and pure
opportunism.
According to Robert Jackson, one of the Nuremberg trial's prosecutors,
"aggressive warfare is an illegal instrument for resolving those grievances or
for altering those conditions, whatever grievances a nation may have, however
unpleasant it considers the current status quo." After the end of World War II,
Fuller made the suggestion that everyone respect the sovereignty and integrity
of sovereign states' borders, regardless of whether a war is just or unjust
Conclusion
The Hart and fuller debate reflect the contradicting point of view between
positivism and natural law about the Tokyo war crimes trial. Hart argues that it
is conducted to fully fill their ulterior motive and hence they argue that
before world war II no rule was made for the prosecution of the war criminal and
Criminalize of destructive warfare had not taken place, therefore, the
individual was held not liable, and prosecuted for participating and initiating
in it.
On the other hand, Fuller argues that Japan promotes a dictatorial form of
government and is devoid of morality to punish the actions of the Japanese
dictatorship government. It is necessary to prosecute the war criminals of
Japan. He is a prominent natural law jurist who argues that Japanese law treats
them as non-laws, political leaders, and military personnel who perpetrated
atrocities under the Japan dictatorship government and were prosecuted before
the International Military tribunal for the fast east (IMTFE).
However, Hart argues that after the second world war retrospective laws have
been framed to prosecute the war criminals of Japan, and many jurists against
the idea of retrospective criminal statutes are frowned upon but the Japan
dictatorship government was exceptional. In fact in the Tokyo trial, certain
laws including crimes against peace and humanity were applied retrospectively to
prosecute war criminals in Japan.
In conclusion, it is observed that both hart and fuller argue minimum morality
of law is that law should not be immoral, but immorality does not ground to
disqualify them for being law, and hence "minimum morality" is required to
smoothly function of society like in Tokyo trial "minimum morality" required to
conduct fair and justice to prosecute war criminal of Japan.
Fuller denied the principle of "minimum morality" but Hart recognized the rule
of minimum morality and argued that for a law to qualify as a law in simple
terms law has to be made by the constitution of a country then called valid law.
The minimum morality rule was used in the Tokyo trial to prosecute the war
criminals of Japan.
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