Nuremberg defense
nounEtymology
An allusion to a defense used by former Nazi officials prosecuted during the Nuremberg trials after World War II. The trials were held in Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany.
Definitions
An explanation offered as an excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner,…
An explanation offered as an excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that one acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly superiors) to do so.
- Recognition of the reliance on an official interpretation of the law defense for government officials and private citizens may initially seem to be the same as the Nuremberg defense of “I was just following orders.”
- “It seems like he's [Charles Graner's] wanting to do the Nuremberg defense: ‘I was following orders,’” says Thomas Moran, a Houston attorney and a former military lawyer.
An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one…
An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law is itself unlawful.
- Even during the Vietnam War, in the Pentagon Papers case, a standing objection would not have barred the assertion of a Nuremberg defense by those who committed the civil disobedience.
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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA