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Superior Orders and the Reasonable Man

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

L.C. Green
L.C. Green*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
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Extract

Recent Allegations Concerning a “massacre” of Vietnamese by United States forces in the Song My area of Vietnam, together with disclosures of a similar event during British antiguerrilla operations in Malaya, have drawn renewed attention to the problem of the behaviour of troops in war, and the extent to which they may be expected to obey the laws of war. This is not the place to examine the philosophical aspect of whether there are or can be any rules of war, particularly if one of the belligerents is waging an “illegal” or “criminal” war, or is not recognized as a state so that the operations do not technically qualify as a war in the traditional sense. The Kawasaki case demonstrates that “war” may exist, even though neither the parties nor third states recognize the operations as such. It is also clear, at least since the Geneva Conventions of 1949, that laws regarding the humane treatment of wounded and sick, prisoners of war and civilians in occupied territory operate even in armed conflicts not of an international character, as well as those which only one party regards as a war, or if only one is party to the Conventions, or if territory is occupied and no resistance met.

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Articles
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Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international , Volume 8 , 1970 , pp. 61 - 103
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Copyright © The Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international 1970 

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References

1 Kawasaki Kisen Kabushiki Kaisha of Kobe v. Batltham S.S. Co. [1939] 2 K.B. 544.

2 I, 75 UNTS 31; II, ibid., 85; III, ibid., 135; IV, ibid., 287.

3 Art. 3 of each Convention.

4 Art. 2 of each Convention.

5 Thus, the 1949 Conventions, at least where “grave breaches” are concerned, require each High Contracting Party to seek out those, regardless of nationality, alleged to have committed or ordered such breaches, and try them before local courts or transfer them for trial to another High Contracting Party “cornerned,” provided the latter has made out a prima facie case (Art. 49, 50, 129, 146). See Canada’s Geneva Conventions Act, 1964 (S.C. 1965, c. 44), S.3, and “Unit Guide to the Geneva Conventions,” 1949, CFP 318(4), para. 702 (2), which states that “Canada, or any other nation bound by the Conventions including the enemy, may capture and try any person who commits or orders to be committed any of the acts defined as grave breaches of the Convention.” See, also, Cowles, , “Universality of Jurisdiction, over War Crimes,” 33 Calif. L. Rev. 177 (1945)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 The Times (London), Jan. 2, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19–21, 29–31, Feb. 4, 9–14, 19, 20 and 23, 1953.

7 1902/61, S.41 (Andenaes ed., 1961, at 28).

8 1871/1961, s.52 (Mueller ed., 1961, at 41, italics added).

9 S.32 (Brett and McLean ed., 1963, at 482, italics added).

10 1936, ss.25,26,27 (Eder ed., 1967, at 21, italics added).

11 1926/64, ss.49,50 (Gürelli ed., 1965, at 28).

12 See references to Axtell and Cooke, infra notes 33, 34.

18 Constantineau on De Facto Doctrine, c. Martin’s Criminal Code, 1955, at 55.

14 [1936] 4 D.L.R. 737. See also R. v. Farduto (1913), 10 D.L.R. 669.

15 [1964] S.C.R. 667, 673.

16 QR&O 19.015,19.02.

17 (1954) I G.M.A.R. 249,251.

18 Law of Crimes, 1966, at 138.

19 P.R. No. 16 of 1883.

20 Nga My at Tha (1882) S.J.L.B. 164.

21 3rd (Simonds) ed., vol. 10, ss.539,541,1169 (italics added).

22 I History of the Criminal Law 204–06 (1883) (italics added).

23 See R. v. Thomas (1816), 4 M. & S. 441 (MS Bayley J.). Dicey points out that the Attorney-General could enter a nolle prosequi.

24 The Law of the Constitution 298–99, 302 (8th ed., 1915) (italics added).

25 Ibid., 322–23.

26 Vol. 22, “Criminal Law,” ss.43,39.

27 C.J.S., vol. 6, “Army and Navy,” s.37 (2) (italics added).

28 I Criminal Law and Procedure 257–58, s.118 (1957 ed.) (italics added).

29 135 ALR Annot. 10,37 (italics added).

30 See, for example, Commonwealth, ex rel. Wadsworth v. Shortall (1903), 55 Atl.952,956.

31 Hare, Constitutional Law 920 (1889) (italics added).

32 11 Hen. VII, c.1.

33 (1660), 5 St.Tr. 1077,1113,1115. See also War Crimes (Preventive Murder) (Germany) case (1960), 32 I.L.R. 563.

34 (1661) Kelyng 13, 84 E.R. 1060.

35 See Green, , “The Indian National Army Trials,” 2 Mod. L.R. 47, 53–54 (1948)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Hindustan Times, Nov. 6, 1945.

36 (1701), 14 St. Tr. 147, 185.

37 (l837), 8 G. & P. 131, 132–33; 173 E.R. 429, 430 (italics added).

38 (1864), 4 F. & F. 105, 111–12, 113; 176 E.R. 488, 491, 492 (italics added).

39 (1779). I Term Rep. 536; 99 E.R. 1239.

40 Keighley v. Bell (1866), 4 F. & F. 763, 790; 176 E.R. 781, 793 (italics added).

41 Dawkes v. Lord Rokeby (1866), 4 F. & F. 806, 831; 176 E.R. 800, 811.

42 The Times, December 15, 1962.

43 (1942), 127 F.2d 786, 791.

44 (1851)) 13 How. 115, 137 (italics added).

45 Franks v. Smith (1911), 134 S.W. 484, 490–91 (italics added).

46 (1955), 350 U.S. 11, 18.

47 1950, 64 Stat. 109.

48 (1954) I C.M.A.R. 253.

49 Ibid., 277.

50 (1887), I Abb. 212, 218 (italics added).

51 3 Cold. 85 (Term.), 91 Am. Dec. 87a (italics added).

52 (1887), 31 Fed. 710, 717 (italics added).

53 (1872), I Woods 480 (italics added).

54 Op. cit. supra note 31.

55 (1903), 55 Atl. 958, 957.

56 Neu y. McCarthy (1941), 33 N.E. 2d 570, 573–74 (italics added).

57 (1951), 64. S.E. ad 840, 841.

58 See a Schwarzenberger, , International Law, “The Law of Armed Conflict,” ch. 39, at 463–66 (1968)Google Scholar (Schwarzenberger first discussed this case in Manchester Guardian, September 84, 1946).

59 H.R. Exec. Doc. No. 23, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., 764, 773, 774, 802 (italics added).

60 (1779), I Term Rep. 536 (see supra note 39).

61 (1900), 17 S.C. 561 (Cape of Good Hope) (italics added). See also R. v. Werner, [1947] a S.A.L.R. 828.

62 (1931) Cmd. 1450 at 42; 2 Ann. Dig. 429.

63 (1921) Cmd. 1450, at 45; 2 Ann. Dig. 436 (italics added). Both these decisions are reproduced in Cameron, The Peleus Trial (1948).

64 (1921), 2 Ann. Dig. 438, note b.

65 Vol. 2, S. 253 (1906).

66 Para. 443 (the 1929 ed. is to the same effect).

67 1914, Art. 366; 1940 Art. 345.

68 1921, S. 253, at 342, n. 3.

69 1926, S. 253, at 410, n. 2.

70 1935, S. 253, at 452, n. I.

71 1944, S. 253, at 452–53 (italics added), and 453, n. 2 (the same statement appears in the 7th ed., 1952, the last edited by Lauterpacht).

72 Ibid., 453.

73 Amendment 34, April 1944 (text reproduced in Cameron, op. cit. supra note 63, at 150).

74 Change No. 1, November 15, 1944 (italics added — ibid., 152).

75 2 Garner, , International Law and the World War 487 (1920).Google Scholar

76 3 UN War Crimes Commission, Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals 93, 96.

77 For some of these laws, see ibid., vol. 5, at 20–23; for the Soviet position, see Greenspan, , The Modern Law of Land Warfare 491 (1959).Google Scholar

78 1946, H.M.S.O., Cmd. 6964; 41 Am. J. Int’l L. 172 (1947).

79 Cameron, op. cit. supra note 63, at 128–29 (for an abbreviated text, see 13 Ann. Dig. 248, sub. nom. In re Eck — italics added).

80 (1945)) I Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals 71, 74 (italics added). In fact, Rear Admiral Masuda committed suicide before the trial opened and a nolle prosequi was entered in his case.

81 (1946), 5 ibid., 15 (italics added).

82 (1946), 13 Ann. Dig. 293–94 (italics added).

83 Rohde Case (1946), 5 Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals 54, 58 (italics added).

84 Op. cit supra note 78, at 42, 83, 92, 118; 221, 271–72, 283, 316 resp. (italics added).

85 (1947), 7 Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals 27, 41–42 (italics added).

86 Cp. comments of Lord Mansfield in Wall v. M’Namara, supra note 39.

87 In re Von Leeb (1948), 12 ibid., 1, 71–74 (italics added).

88 In re List (1948), 15 Ann. Dig. 632, 649–52 (italics added).

89 FM27–10, para. 1. See also, Garner, op. cit., n. 75 above, vol. I, at 12; who describes such Manuals as “for the guidance of military and naval forces … [which] may, of course, be altered by the government which issues them, except in so far as the obligatory character of their rules is established by international law.”

90 Rights of Minorities in Upper Silesia (Minority Schools), P.C.I.J. Ser. A, No. 15, at 31, 33 (1928); Ambatielos case (Prelim. Obj.), (1952) I.C.J. Rep. 28, 42.

91 In re Ohlendorf (1948), 15 Ann. Dig. 656, 665–68 (italics added).

92 Cp. State v. Roy, supra note 57.

93 See, however, Peleus Trial, supra note 63, re accused Lenz, and debate initiated by Lord Cork and Orrery in House of Lords, April 25, 1950.

94 Auditeur-Général près la Cour Militaire v. Müller (1949), 16 Ann. Dig. 400, 402 (italics added).

95 The Times, February 8, 1957.

96 See supra note 16.

97 The Times, December 12, 1962, April 1, 1963.

98 Ibid., March 13, 1965.

99 Ibid., March 19, 1965.

100 Ibid., April 7, 1964. See also evidence of Dr. Adelaide Hurtval in Dering v. Uris, [1964] 2 W.L.R. 1298 for an example of a prisoner successfully refusing to take part in medical experiments (Hall, and Williams, , Auschwitz in England, 1965).Google Scholar

101 A.G., Israel v. Eichmann (1961/62), 36 I.L.R. 5 (District Court), 277 (Supreme Court), 257–58, 314–15, 318 (italics added).

102 (1958) cited Eichmann, ibid., 256–57 (italics added).

103 Part I, ch. V, s. 23.

104 Part III, paras. 627–30.

105 FM27–10, 1956, para. 509.

106 U.S. v. Schultz (1966, court martial; 1968 Review Board) 39 C.M.R. 133, 136 (italics added).

107 2d ed., 1920, at 575.

108 See, for example, U.S. v. Ciesielski (1968), 39 C.M.R. 839, 850.

109 1951, para. 416.

110 Ibid., para. 169B. See U.S. v. Trani (1953), 3 C.M.R. 37.

111 Para. 197 (italics added).

112 (1954), 14 C.M.R. 742, 763, 770, 773–75, 776, 781 (italics added).

113 In a Saigon (Vietnam) case in 1970, when the court discovered that the mandatory sentence for the crime of which the accused was found guilty was life imprisonment, it found him guilty of a different offence carrying a lesser penalty.

114 See supra note 91.

115 The Board agreed that if the order had been lawful, the accused could not have been found guilty of conspiracy: U.S. v. Saglietto (1941), 41 F. Supp. 21. For the trial of the officer issuing the order to Kinder, see U.S. v. Schreiber (1955), 18 C.M.R. 226, and see supra note 46.

116 U.S. v. Keenan (1969), 39 C.M.R. 108, 117 (italics added).

117 (1968), 3 C.M.R. 586.

118 See supra notes 48 and 49.

119 See supra note 33.

120 See Johnson, , “Unlawful Command Influence: A Question of Balance,” 19 JAG Journal 1965, at 87.Google Scholar

121 U.S. ex rel Toth v. Quarles, supra note 46.

122 The Times, February 4, 1970.