Reading the reports of the death of a senior Al-Qaeda Afghanistan leader in Pakistan, I can’t help thinking of the opening statement of Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg trials:
“The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated.
“That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason.”
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Shane Greer // Feb 1, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Brilliant quote, easily one of my favourite of all time.
2 Democracy has the upper hand // Feb 24, 2008 at 6:50 pm
[...] my run of judicial quotations, this one comes from the Israeli Supreme Court, in a case concerning torture (The Public Committee [...]
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