There was no jurisdiction at the time. The Nuremberg trials were essentially kangaroo courts with no solid basis in law, performed because the gravity of the Nazi crimes was so great something had to be done. As such some of the judges were uneasy about handing down death sentences, as many of the crimes they were charged with were not crimes in the Third Reich, and international law hadn’t developed sufficiently to take over.
The ICC came around in the 1990s, partially in response to calls from those involved in the Nuremberg trials for provision for a more robust and legal process, that didn’t rely on conquest first.
I have no idea if the gaurdian is a good source but I had no idea about this so I figured I’d grab an article link for anyone who also had no ideas this happened recently
That really isn’t how that works.
The US has declared that they won’t allow the international courts to get involved, but that doesn’t necessarily prevent those courts from disagreeing.
“Jurisdiction” is only a thing when a court answers to some higher authority who has limited what that court can do. Since the international courts theoretically don’t answer to the US government, they can make any ruling they like.
They’re unlikely to bother, since they probably won’t be in a position to enforce any ruling against typical foot soldiers, but they absolutely could if it came to that point
America isn’t in the jurisdiction of the ICC, but American soldiers who commit crimes within ICC countries are. This means that American soldiers according to international law can, for example, be prosecuted for crime they commit in support of Israel’s genocide.
The US literally sanctioned the ICC judges. There’s not gonna be a Nuremberg trial for them lol.
Could change rapidly. I doubt Nazi Germany started under the purview of the ICC. (I think ICC was created in response.)
There was no jurisdiction at the time. The Nuremberg trials were essentially kangaroo courts with no solid basis in law, performed because the gravity of the Nazi crimes was so great something had to be done. As such some of the judges were uneasy about handing down death sentences, as many of the crimes they were charged with were not crimes in the Third Reich, and international law hadn’t developed sufficiently to take over.
The ICC came around in the 1990s, partially in response to calls from those involved in the Nuremberg trials for provision for a more robust and legal process, that didn’t rely on conquest first.
Thank you for the added context and time points!
I have no idea if the gaurdian is a good source but I had no idea about this so I figured I’d grab an article link for anyone who also had no ideas this happened recently
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/05/marco-rubio-sanctions-icc-judges-israel-gaza
(Feel free to reply with links to better sources if you’d like :)
The guardian in general is a pretty trustworthy source afaik.
American soldiers aren’t in the jurisdiction of the ICC or any international court anyway.
That really isn’t how that works. The US has declared that they won’t allow the international courts to get involved, but that doesn’t necessarily prevent those courts from disagreeing.
“Jurisdiction” is only a thing when a court answers to some higher authority who has limited what that court can do. Since the international courts theoretically don’t answer to the US government, they can make any ruling they like.
They’re unlikely to bother, since they probably won’t be in a position to enforce any ruling against typical foot soldiers, but they absolutely could if it came to that point
They could, but it would be a big mistake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members'_Protection_Act
You may have heard it called the, “Invade the Hague Act.”
America isn’t in the jurisdiction of the ICC, but American soldiers who commit crimes within ICC countries are. This means that American soldiers according to international law can, for example, be prosecuted for crime they commit in support of Israel’s genocide.
Yeah, about that… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members'_Protection_Act
Germany wasn’t exactly in a position to stop them from being on trial.