Header

History

The International Nuremberg Principles Academy

The International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg Academy) is a foundation dedicated to the advancement of international criminal law and related human rights.

It is located in Nuremberg, the birthplace of modern international criminal law. Conscious of this historic heritage, its main fields of activity include providing a forum for dialogue by convening international conferences and expert meetings, conducting interdisciplinary and applied research, engaging in specialised capacity building for practitioners of international criminal law and human rights education.

The Nuremberg Academy upholds the Nuremberg Principles and the rule of law with a vision of sustainable peace through justice, furthering knowledge and building capacities of those involved in the judicial process in relation to core international crimes. The Nuremberg Academy was established by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Free State of Bavaria and the City of Nuremberg.

 

The statute of the Nuremberg Academy in English and in German

Please note that only the German version is to be considered as the binding version.

The Nuremberg Principles

In 1950, Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal were formulated by the International Law Commission and submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations. The report with these Nuremberg Principles, together with commentaries later appeared in the Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950.

With these Principles, the concepts of individual criminal accountability for crimes under international law, end to impunity, equality before the law, fair trial rights were universally recognized. Moreover, the crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity were defined.

The legacy of the Nuremberg Principles extends to other international, internationalized, regional and domestic practices. The Nuremberg Academy’s mission is to carry forward the legacy of the Nuremberg trials and the Nuremberg Principles.

 

The Nuremberg Principles (pdf), Source: United Nations Office of Legal Affairs

Resource Collection on the Nuremberg Principles

It has been 70 years since the International Law Commission formulated the ‘Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nürnberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal’ (Nuremberg Principles). Since then, the Nuremberg Principles remain...

 

Read more on: Resource Collection on the Nuremberg Principles