I have the honor to submit a record of negotiations which I conducted as Representative of the United States at the London Conference, held June 26 to August 8, 1945, at which representatives of the United Kingdom, Provisional Government of France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States made formal statement of the principles of substantive law and agreed upon methods of procedure for the prosecution and trial of the major European war criminals.
Those who engage in future efforts to codify international law or conduct trials, hearings, or arbitrations on an international level may find the origins, evolution, and background of this agreement instructive. Students of comparative law, as well as the legal profession will find both the conflicts and harmonies between legal systems disclosed by those negotiations of interest.
It has therefore seemed fitting to assemble and lay before you a comprehensive report, including not only the deliberations of the Conference but all preliminary negotiations, drafts, and documents necessary to an understanding of the initiation and development of the agreement of London and the annexed charter of the International Military Tribunal, without an understanding of which an appraisal of the Nuernberg trial would be difficult.
Very truly yours,| Source: International Conference on Military Trials : London, 1945 Report of Robert H. Jackson, United States Representative to the International Conference on Military Trials : London, 1945 International organization and conference series; II European and British Commonwealth 1 Department of State Publication 3080 Washington, DC : Government Printing Office, 1949 |