Commission of Responsibilities

A commission of experts at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 that dealt with the issue of prosecution for war crimes committed during the First World War.

Background

Already during the First World War, the Allied governments decided to try defeated leaders whom they considered responsible for violations of international law and the laws of war. For that purpose, it was decided to establish an expert committee to make recommendations to that effect. Following the conclusion of the Armistice in November 1918, actual preparations began. The defeated German government officially concurred with the initiative on grounds that

"A complete truthful account of the world conditions and of the negotiations among the powers in July 1914 and of the steps taken at that time by the several governments could and would go far toward demolishing the walls of hatred and misconstruction erected by the long war to separate the peoples":^[1]

In addition, the German government proposed to the Allied governments to establish a neutral committee of experts to study the matter. This the Allied governments refused, claiming that

"they (the Allied governments) do not consider that the German proposal requires any reply as the responsibility of Germany for the war has been long ago incontestably proved".^[2]

Composition of the Commission

The commission was established at the conference plenary session of January 25, 1919 and consisted of representatives of the five major Allied powers - Britain, France, Italy, USA and Japan - with the addition of Belgium, Greece, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia. Its members were as follows:^[3]

USA:

• Secretary of State Robert Lansing
• State Department legal adviser James Brown Scott

UK:

• Sir Gordon Hewart, MP
• Sir Ernest Pollock, MP
• W.F. Massey

France:

• André Tardieu
• F. Larnaude

Italy:

• V. Scialoja
• Raimondo
• Brambilla
• M. d'Amelio

Japan:

• Mineichirō Adachi, Japanese Minister Plenipotentiary to Belgium
• Harukazu Nagaoka
• Sakutaro Tachi

Belgium:

• Rolin-Jaequehiyns, Sec. Gen. of the Belgian Delegation to the Peace Conference

Greece:

• Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolaos Politis

Poland:

• Constantin Skirmunt, member of the Polish National Committee
• Léon Lubienski

Romania:

• S. Rosental ?

Yugoslavia:

• Prof. Slobodan Jovanović, Rector of the University of Belgrade

The Commission was divided into three sub-commissions as follows:

• on Criminal Acts, charged with investigating into war crimes allegations
• on Responsibility for the War, charged with recommending which individuals to indict for bringing about the war (on the diplomatic level)
• on Responsibility for the Violation of the Laws and Customs of War, charged with deciding whom to indict for crimes committed during the war

Recommendations made by the Commission

Majority opinion

The Commission submitted its report on March 29, 1919. It concluded that the main to blame for the war were the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and second with those of Bulgaria and Turkey.^[4] It recommended to establish an additional commission for a more exhaustive study of the alleged crimes of the defeated powers.^[5] It further recommended to establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspected war criminals, and not to grant immunity from prosecution even to defeated heads of states. It recommended the desired tribunal consist of 22 judges, three from each one of the major five powers and one additional six to be appointed from other countries.^[6]

Dissenting opinion by the US delegation

The US delegates submitted their own opinion on April 4, 1919, expressing their reservations to the report. They suggested to refrain from punishment of heads of states, while focusing on lower levels of the government and military. In addition, they suggested to refrain from charging defeated leaders or commanders with acts not considered criminal at the time of their commission, i.e., to refrain from making retroactive rules of conduct. They also suggested to refrain from establishin a permanent international tribunal for war crimes and suggested instead that following any future war, such tribunal was to be established by the governments of the nations affected by that war.^[7]

Dissenting opinion by the Japanese delegation

On the same day the US delegation submitted its minority opinion, the Japanese delegation submitted its own reservations. The Japanese delegation's main reservation was about the demand to indict heads of state for violations.^[8]

Legacy of the Commission

The recommendations made by the Commission were not followed through at the time. The suggested international tribunal for war crimes was not established, this due to the refusal by the German government to cooperate. Instead, few German individuals accused of war crimes were tried in 1921 at the Leipzig War Crimes Trial by the German authorities themselves. However, these recommendations had far reaching outcome. Following the Second World War, two international Allied tribunals were established in Nuremberg and Tokyo to try German and Japanese leaders accused of war crimes. The demand for a permanent tribunal for crimes against humanity continued even following the dissolution of the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, leading to the establishment of the International Criminal Court in 2003.

References

1. ^ Communication from the German government to the US government, December 2, 1918, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919: The Paris Peace Conference, vol. II, 71-72
2. ^ Acting US Secretary of State (Frank Lyon Polk) to the Commission to Negotiate Peace, January 6, 1919, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919: The Paris Peace Conference, vol. II, p. 73
3. ^ Violations of the Laws and Customs of War: Reports of Majority and Dissenting Reports American and Japanese Members of the Commission of Responsibilities, Conference of Paris, 1919, pp. 1-2 (hereafter: Commission Report). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919: The Paris Peace Conference, vol. III, pp. 203-205
4. ^ Commission Report, p. 4
5. ^ Commission Report, p. 19
6. ^ International Law Commission, Historical Survey of the Question of International Criminal Jurisdiction (UN Document: A/CN.4/7/Rev.1) p. 7 (hereafter: ILC Study)
7. ^ ILC Study, p. 8
8. ^ Text in "Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalities" American Journal of International Law, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan. - Apr., 1920), pp. 95-154

For further reading

• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Violations of the Laws and Customs of War: Reports of Majority and Dissenting Reports American and Japanese Members of the Commission of Responsibilities, Conference of Paris, 1919 (London and New York, 1919)
• International Law Commission, Historical Survey of the Question of International Criminal Jurisdiction (New York, 1949) (UN Document: A/CN.4/7/Rev.1)

External links

• List of members of the commission