Nuremberg Principles

The Nuremberg principles are a set of guidelines formulated by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1950, at the General Assembly's request, identifying the principles of international law recognized in the charter and judgment of the International Military Tribunal that conducted the Nuremberg trials. They establish that individuals, including heads of state, can be held criminally responsible under international law for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that following superior orders or holding official position does not by itself relieve a person of responsibility. The principles are distinct from the Nuremberg trials themselves, which were the proceedings that first applied them, and they became a foundation for later international criminal law, including the statute of the International Criminal Court.