The Supreme National Tribunal and International Criminal Law

Polish Perspectives on Prosecuting War Criminals

Oktawian Kuc (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

302 Seiten

2025
Routledge (Verlag)
978-1-041-00472-1 (ISBN)

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This book examines the establishment, operation, and legacy of Poland’s special post-war court created to prosecute leading German war criminals. Between 1946 and 1948, it conducted seven seminal landmark trials involving 49 defendants, including notorious figures such as Arthur Greiser, Amon Goeth, Rudolf Hoess, and members of the Auschwitz staff. The Tribunal aimed to foreground the Polish experience within the international discourse on post-war justice, offering a judicial account of the suffering endured under Nazi occupation. Simultaneously, it illuminated the singularity of the Jewish tragedy, with some proceedings arguably constituting the earliest Holocaust trials. This monograph situates the Tribunal within the broader context of international criminal justice, with the Nuremberg Trial as its central reference point. Interwoven at multiple levels, these proceedings reflect a complex tapestry of legal responses to mass atrocity. Despite operating under the growing pressures of Stalinisation, the Tribunal retained a notable degree of independence and upheld elements of fair trial standards – rooted in the legal traditions of interwar Poland. Its jurisprudence may be considered an early contribution to the evolution of international criminal law, offering a distinct national perspective on international crimes within the wider legal and historical framework. The book will be an invaluable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal History, International and Criminal Law, History, Genocide Studies and Holocaust Research, International Relations, Criminology and Criminal Justice, War Crimes Trials, and Slavic and Eastern European Studies.

Oktawian Kuc is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration, the University of Warsaw, Poland, and a practising attorney admitted to the bar in Poland and New York State. He is formerly a Legal/Policy Officer at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Introduction; 1. Prosecuting German War Criminals after World War II; 2. Creation and Operations of the Supreme National Tribunal Chapter 3. Trials before the Supreme National Tribunal Chapter; 4. The German War and Occupation in the Polish Judicial Narrative Chapter; 5. The Nuremberg Trial and the Supreme National Tribunal Chapter; 6. Key Legal Issues before the Supreme National Tribunal; Conclusion.

Erscheinungsdatum	22.11.2025
Reihe/Serie	Routledge Research in Legal History
Zusatzinfo	1 Tables, black and white; 3 Line drawings, black and white; 6 Halftones, black and white; 9 Illustrations, black and white
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Gewicht	750 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
	Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
	Recht / Steuern ► Rechtsgeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Europäische / Internationale Politik
ISBN-10	1-041-00472-9 / 1041004729
ISBN-13	978-1-041-00472-1 / 9781041004721
Zustand	Neuware