UNWCC publications

These are documents and literature produced by the UNWCC itself, discussing its work and activities. Distinct from the until-recently sealed archives of the UNWCC’s own work, these were not kept classified in UN archives. That these documents should be widely used by legal scholars, human rights activists, and even peace campaigners, was always an intention of the UNWCC’s staff, as the following statement from Lord Wright, the Commission’s chairman, relates:

“One main purpose of this great campaign which I have outlined of justice in war, for the protection of human rights in war conditions, or at least some human rights, was to provide a body of legal doctrines, elaborated in many ramifications of fact, which would enlighten future generations and perhaps help to avert war in future, or if that is impossible, limit its atrociousness.”

Lord Wright, 1948

This has taken place to some extent – the Commission’s Law Reports of its cases formed a key component of the ICTY’s work, for example – but other documents, such as the UNWCC’s own history, or the contents of its conferences, have gone underused. This page aims to gather the UNWCC’s own documentation about itself.

HISTORY OF THE UNITED NATIONS WAR CRIMES COMMISSION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAWS OF WAR

In March 1948 – the same month the Commission was closed down – the UNWCC produced a comprehensive history of its activities and the legal developments in the field of war crimes that led up to its foundation. Pdf files for the individual files can be found below.

LAW REPORTS OF TRIALS OF WAR CRIMINALS

These fifteen volumes of cases represent some of the more high-profile cases handled by the UNWCC, and deal with a wide range of important cases. Unlike the vast majority of the UNWCC’s caseload, these cases have widely disseminated and well-known throughout the international legal community, and have provided significant legal precedents for a significant number of subsequent cases.

INFORMATION CONCERNING HUMAN RIGHTS ARISING FROM TRIALS OF WAR CRIMINALS

Even as political stresses were undermining the success of the UNWCC, it was also planning for the future. The newly-emerged Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) requested a report on the implications of postwar international criminal justice for the burgeoning field of human rights. The UNWCC responded with a report detailing the human rights issues raised by the prosecutions of war criminals – both the implications of the trials themselves (what were the standards for a fair trial, what laws were applicable in this context, and other questions that would be the foundations for international criminal justice in years to come), and for human rights more broadly (what kinds of atrocity would need to be covered under international law, and what kinds of crimes human rights would need to protect against).

The report can be found here.

MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL OFFICES’ CONFERENCE

In May 1945 – towards the end of the war – representatives of all sixteen national offices that worked with the Commission met to discuss the project of coordinating and giving impetus to the unprecedented set of war crimes trials planned. As well as being an overview of the Commission’s own plans and approaches at a critical point, it also illustrates some of the roles that individual states played and their relationships – including the major role of India in developing this early important period of international law.

The Minutes of the NOC can be found here.