A New Study on the Death Penalty Vote at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Tokyo

AuthorChen Xinyu
Pages212-226
212 TSINGHUA CHINA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 9:211
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A NEW STUDY ON THE DEATH PENALTY VOTE AT THE
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL FOR THE FAR
EAST, TOKYO
CHEN Xinyu
Abstract
The popular view that the result of the voting for imposing death
penalty at the Tokyo Trial was six to five needs to be qualified. First,
only ten judges took part in the vo te, as the judge of France H enri
Bernard abstained. Second, voting results for the seven culprits who
were sentenced to death varied, with some six to four and the others
seven to three. For example, Hirota Koki should have received a
voting result of six to four, while Tojo Hideki was sentenced to death
by a vote of seven to three. Although the ju dges at the International
Military Tribunal for the Far East, Tokyo differed in their opinions
on certain specific issues, they all adhered to the principle of
judicial independence faithfully, which warranted the legitimacy of
their judgment on the basis of international rule of law .
Key Words: Tokyo Trial, Sentence, Death Penalty
“With what then will you recompense kindness?
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with
kindness.
——Confucius
I. PREFACE
After the Second World War ended the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East (hereinafter “the Tribunal”) was established
in Tokyo by the Allied Supreme Command. In accordance with the
Cairo Declaration on 1st December 1943, the Potsdam Proclamation
on 26th July 1945, Japan’s Instrument of Surrender on 2nd
September 1945 and Resolution of Moscow Conference of Foreign
Ministers on 26th December 1945. According to the Charter of The
International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the purpose of the
Tribunal was for “the just and prompt trial and punishment of the
major war criminals in the Far East” (Art.1). The Tribunal consisted
of judges from 11 countries including the United States, China, the
United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France,
Netherlands, New Zealand, India and Philippines, and held trials for
28 major war criminals1 who were prosecuted by the International
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1 Generally referred to as “Class A war criminals”. During the trial, Matsuoka Yosuke and Nagano
Osami died of illness, and the trial against Okawa Shumei were called to an end for he was found w ith

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