Legal Issues of the Eichmann Trial
![handle is hein.journals/tulr37 and id is 669 raw text is: LEGAL ISSUES OF THE EICHMANN TRIAL
L. C. GREEN*
Kings and those who are invested with a Power equal to that of
Kings, have a Right to exact Punishments, not only for Injuries com-
mitted against themselves, or their Subjects, but likewise, for those
which do not particularly concern them, but which are, in any Persons
whatsoever, grievous Violations of the Law of Nature or Nations.
Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, 2.20.40.1 (1625) (1738 Eng. transl.
pp. 436-37).
There is no need, at the present time, to recount the fascinating
tale of the way in which Adolf Eichmann, the prime mover in the
inauguration and execution of Nazi Germany's concept of the Final
Solution of the so-called Jewish problem,' was traced, abducted
and brought to Israel.2 From the point of view of the international
lawyer examining the trial, this aspect of the Eichmann case is
only important to the extent to which it raised fundamental prob-
lems of law in the course of the judicial proceedings against him.3
Nor is it necessary to pay attention to the political or emotional
reasons that may have motivated Israel and its political leaders
in holding the trial,4 or the prosecution in bringing evidence to ex-
plain the historical and sociological origins of anti-semitism.5 In
fact, the judges expressly rejected such evidence and reasons in
coming to their decision.6
INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPINGS
However, there is one matter arising out of the recovery of
Eichmann which, strictly, has nothing to do with Eichmann him-
self, though Dr. Servatius, his defense counsel, did maintain that
the Israeli courts could have no jurisdiction since the accused was
brought before the court as a result of what he alleged was a breach
* Professor of International Law, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law, Uni-
versity of Singapore.
1 See, e.g., Poliakov, The Harvest of Hate (1954) (Eichmann's name ap-
pears forty times in the index).
2 See, e.g., Pearlman, The Capture of Adolph Eichmann (1961); Reynolds,
Minister of Death (1960).
3 For an account of the legal problems involved in the kidnapping, see
Baade, The Eichmann Trial, 1961 Duke L.J. 400; Green, The Eichmann Case,
23 Modern L. Rev. 507 (1960); Melo, El Case Eichmann y la Soberania
Argentina, 8 Rev. Der. Int'l 99 (1960); Silving, In Re Eichmann: A Dilemma
of Law and Morality, 55 Am. J. Int'l L. 307 (1961).
4 Thus, Mr. Ben-Gurion is reported to have said: [O]ne of our motives
* . . is to make the details of his case known to the generation of Israelis
who have grown up since the holocaust. N.Y. Times, Dec. 18, 1960, § 6
(Magazine), p. 62, col. 4.
5 See evidence of Professor Salo Baron, Professor of Jewish History,
Columbia Univ., in Transcript of Trial of A.G., Israel v. Adolf, Son of Adolf
Karl Eichmann, Crim. Case 40/61 (cited hereafter as Transcript-this is an
uncorrected copy of the Transcript, made available by Dr. S. Rosenne, Legal
Advisor, Ministry of External Affairs, Israel).
6 Transcript, Judgment, § 2, pp. 1-2.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/tulr37&div=44&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Legal Issues of the Eichmann Trial
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