Australia's War Crimes Trials 1945-51 / / by Georgina Fitzpatrick, Tim McCormack, Narrelle Morris.

• Superior document: International Humanitarian Law Series ; v. 48
• Author: Fitzpatrick, Georgina (Historian)
• TeilnehmendeR: McCormack, Timothy L. H.; Morris, Narrelle.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Brill Nijhoff.; c2016.
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: International Humanitarian Law Series 48.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (911 pages) :; illustrations, maps.
• Notes: "IHUL 48."
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; The Australian War Crimes Trials, 1945–51 /; The Emperor’s Army: Military Operations and Ideology in the War against Australia /; Jurisdiction of the Australian Military Courts 1945–51 /; The Australian Military Courts under the War Crimes Act 1945— Structure and Approach /; Command Responsibility and Other Grounds of Criminal Responsibility /; Obedience to Superior Orders and Related Defences /; The Prosecution of Crimes against Civilians /; Crimes against Captured Airmen /; Crimes against Asians in Command Responsibility Trials /; Cannibalism and the War Crimes Trials /; Death Sentences, Japanese War Criminals and the Australian Military /; The Trials on Morotai /; The Trials at Wewak /; The Trials on Labuan /; The Trials in Darwin /; The Trials in Rabaul /; The Trials in Singapore /; The Trials in Hong Kong /; Last Trials: Manus Island /; The Australian War Criminals Compounds at Rabaul and on Manus Island, 1945–53 /; Changing Direction: Repatriation of Japanese War Criminals in Australian Custody /; The ‘Post-War’ of the BC-Class War Criminals: How Did War Criminals React to the Australian Trials? /; Were the Australian Trials Fair? /; Appendix I War Crimes Act 1945 (Cth) /; Appendix II Regulations for the Trial of War Criminals 1945 (Cth) /; Appendix III Board of Inquiry List of War Crimes /; Appendix IV Trials List with National Archives of Australia Series and Item Number /; Indices /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
• ISBN: 9004292055
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: by Georgina Fitzpatrick, Tim McCormack, Narrelle Morris.

This unique volume provides a detailed analysis of Australia’s 300 war crimes trials of principally Japanese accused conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Part I contains contextual essays explaining why Australia established military courts to conduct these trials and thematic essays considering various legal issues in, and historical perspectives on, the trials. Part II offers a comprehensive collection of eight location essays, one each for the physical locations where the trials were held. In Part III post-trial issues are reviewed, such as the operation of compounds for war criminals; the repatriation of convicted Japanese war criminals to serve the remainder of their sentences; and reflections of some of those convicted on their experience of the trials. In the final essay, a contemporary reflection on the fairness of the trials is provided, not on the basis of a twenty-first century critique of contemporary minimum standards of fair trial expected in the prosecution of war crimes, but by reviewing approaches taken in the trials themselves as well as from reactions to the trials by those associated with them. The essays are supported by a large collection of unique historical photographs, maps and statistical materials. There has been no systematic and comprehensive analysis of these trials so far, which has meant that they are virtually precluded from consideration as judicial precedent. This volume fills that gap, and offers scholars and practitioners an important and groundbreaking resource.