NCJ Number
176024
Date Published
1997
Length
309 pages
Annotation
This is a history of Canada's prosecution of war crimes committed during the Second World War.
Abstract
War crimes prosecutions create unique difficulties as civilian standards of law are applied to the extraordinary circumstances of war. Governments are often surprisingly hesitant to pursue war criminals. This book illustrates the difficulties of applying law to a recently defeated enemy when the emotions and politics of war distort any sense of impartial justice. The trials reveal much about legal and diplomatic views that prevailed at the end of the war and demonstrate Canada's willingness to overcome its colonial past to defend its own interests on the international stage. The objectivity of the trials is still subject to question and they have been condemned by some as retaliatory. The book clearly shows that Canada's war crimes trials were part of a movement to apply humane standards of conduct to warfare. Abbreviations, notes, appendix, index