United Nations War Crimes Commission

United Nations War Crimes Commission
History
FoundedOctober 20, 1943 (1943-10-20)
Disbanded1948 (1948)

The United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC), initially the United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes, was a United Nations body that aided the prosecution of war crimes committed by Nazi Germany and other Axis powers during World War II.[1]

Operating from 1943 to 1948,[2] the UNWCC was mandated to identify and record war crimes; prepare indictments; ensure suspected war criminals were arrested; determine the legal basis for extradition and punishment; and help define crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide. It registered over 36,000 suspected war criminals and opened over 8,000 cases.[3][4] The Commission did not adjudicate war crimes itself, but rather advised, supervised, and coordinated with Allied states to conduct their own trials.[4] The UNWCC also called for the creation of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and other courts to adjudicate war crimes, and its research and expertise were subsequently utilized in support of these judicial bodies.[3]

The creation of the UNWCC is considered a landmark in the history of international law. It formulated the legal principles and procedures that would underpin international criminal law.[5]

  1. ^ Roger Chickering; Stig Förster; Bernd Greiner (2005). A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937-1945. Cambridge University Press. pp. 371–. ISBN 978-0-521-83432-2.
  2. ^ "About – United Nations War Crimes Commission archive". unwcc.org. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  3. ^ a b United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies
  4. ^ a b "UNWCC archives – United Nations War Crimes Commission archive". unwcc.org. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  5. ^ "Symposium on the UNWCC: 21st Century Value of the 1943-1948 UN War Crimes Commission". Opinio Juris. 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2024-04-29.