Abstract
In his famous article from 1946 on statutory lawlessness, German politician and legal scholar Gustav Radbruch compares the slogans “orders are orders” and “law is law” and concludes that the Nazi regime employed both of them to ensure the loyalty of its subjects. But whereas the obedience of the soldier has never been regarded as absolute, because orders may be illegal, positivism ensures that the law’s requirements are limitless. This was the attitude of the prevailing legal thought that, according to Radbruch, rendered the legal profession defenceless in the face of its Nazi masters.
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Notes
- 1.
Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, vol. 16, 466.
- 2.
Kirchheimer (1961), p. 176.
- 3.
Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, vol. 15, p. 161.
- 4.
Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, vol. 15, p. 163.
- 5.
Arendt (2003), p. 46.
- 6.
Radbruch (1946).
- 7.
Corbett (1998), p. 20.
- 8.
See Shaman (1990).
- 9.
For a presentation of the principles, see Lippman (1992–1993), pp. 311–317.
- 10.
Shaman (1990), p. 2.
- 11.
Brand-Ballard (2010), pp. 61–70.
- 12.
Report of Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Volume 4, 29 October 1998, p. 93.
- 13.
Corbett (1998).
- 14.
Dyzenhaus speculates that there may have been other reasons for the reluctance of the judges to appear; see Dyzenhaus (1998), pp. 36–46.
- 15.
It has been claimed that the German Supreme Court, through a restrictive interpretation and application of section 339 (previously 336), has created what amounts to judicial immunity in practice; see Spendel (1996), pp. 809–812.
- 16.
Dyzenhaus (1998), p. 146.
- 17.
See pp. 39–45 above.
- 18.
The Justice Case (1951), pp. 1024–1025.
- 19.
Schorn (1959), p. 79.
- 20.
The Justice Case (1951), p. 1020.
- 21.
Shaman (1990), pp. 12–13.
- 22.
Shaman (1990), p. 12.
- 23.
The Justice Case (1951), pp. 1024–1025.
- 24.
Kirchheimer (1961), p. 339.
- 25.
K.G. Berlin, Beschluss vom 15.03.1954—1 RHE AR 7/54.
- 26.
For an example, see Schorn (1959), p. 443.
- 27.
See above pp. 177–185.
- 28.
BGH, Urteil vom 19.06.1956—1 StR 50/56 (LG Augsburg).
- 29.
Smid (2002), pp. 453–455.
- 30.
Schminck-Gustavus (1995), p. 37.
- 31.
BGH, Urteil vom 30.4.1968—5 StR 670/67.
- 32.
100. Geburtstag von Hans von Dohnanyi Ansprache des Präsidenten des Bundesgerichtshofs Prof. Dr. Günter Hirsch beim Festakt aus Anlaß des 100. Geburtstags von Hans von Dohnanyi am 8 March 2002, http://www.bundesgerichtshof.de/cln_134/DE/BGH/Praesidenten/Hirsch/HirschReden/rede08032002.html?nn=544442, accessed 10.01.2013.
- 33.
Angermund (1990), p. 245.
- 34.
The Latza Case, reported in Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals vol. XIV, United Nations War Crimes Commission, London 1949 and NRT 1948, p. 1088.
- 35.
Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, vol. 14, p. 80, NRT 1948, p. 1089.
- 36.
Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, vol. 14, pp. 84–85.
- 37.
Dyzenhaus (2010), p. 286.
- 38.
Dyzenhaus (2010), pp. 116–117.
- 39.
Dissenting opinion in Graham v. Florida 560 US—08-7412 (2010).
- 40.
For an example and overview, see Allan (2011).
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Graver, H.P. (2015). A Special Immunity for Judges?. In: Judges Against Justice. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44293-7_12
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