Article 1. Tribunal Established. The International Military Tribunal for
the Far East is hereby established for the just and prompt trial and punishment
of the major war criminals in the Far East. The permanent seat of the Tribunal
is in Tokyo.
Article 2. Members. The Tribunal shall consist of not less
than six members nor more than eleven members, appointed by the Supreme
Commander for the Allied Powers from the names submitted by the Signatories to
the Instrument of Surrender, India, and the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Article 3. Officers and Secretariat.
(a) President. The Supreme Commander for the Allis Powers shall
appoint a Member to be President of the Tribunal.
(b) Secretariat.
(1) The Secretariat of the Tribunal shall
be composed of a General Secretary to be appointed by the Supreme Commander for
the Allied Powers and such assistant secretaries, clerks, interpreters, and other
personnel as may be necessary.
(2) The General Secretary shall organize
and direct the wow of the Secretariat.
(3) The Secretariat shall receive all
documents addressed to the Tribunal, maintain the records of the Tribunal,
provide
Article 4. Convening and Quorum, Voting
and Absence.
(a) Convening and Quorum. When as
many as six members of the Tribunal are present, they may convene the Tribunal
in formal session. The presence of a majority of all members shall be necessary
to constitute a quorum.
(b) Voting. All decisions and judgments of this Tribunal,
including convictions and sentences, shall be by a majority vote of those
Members of the Tribunal present. In case the votes are evenly divided, the vote
of the President shall be decisive.
(c) Absence. If a member at any time is absent and afterwards is
able to be present, he shall take part in all subsequent proceedings; unless he
declares in open court that he is disqualified by reason of insufficient
familiarity with the proceedings which took place in his absence.
Article 5. Jurisdiction Over Persons and
Offenses. The Tribunal
shall have the power to try and punish Far Eastern war criminals who as
individuals or as members of organizations are charged with offenses which
include Crimes against Peace.
The following acts, or any of them, are
crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be
individual responsibility:
(a) Crimes against Peace: Namely, the planning, preparation, initiation
or waging of a declared or undeclared war of aggression, or a war in violation
of international law, treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a
common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing;
(b) Conventional War Crimes: Namely, violations of the laws or customs
of war;
(c) Crimes against Humanity: Namely, murder, extermination,
enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any
civilian population, before or during the war, or persecutions on political or
racial grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law
of the country where perpetrated. Leaders, organizers, instigators and
accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or
conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes are responsible for all acts
performed by any person in execution of such plan.
Article 6. Responsibility of Accused. Neither the official position, at any
time, of an accused, nor the fact that an accused acted pursuant to order of
his government or of a superior shall, of itself, be sufficient to free such
accused from responsibility for any crime with which he is charged, but such
circumstances may be considered in mitigation of punishment if the Tribunal
determines that justice so requires.
Article 7. Rules of
Procedure. The Tribunal may draft and amend rules of
procedure consistent with the fundamental provisions of this Charter.
Article 8. Counsel.
(a) Chief of Counsel. The Chief of Counsel designated by the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers is responsible for the investigation
and prosecution of charges against war criminals within the jurisdiction of
this Tribunal, and will render such legal assistance to the Supreme Commander
as is appropriate.
(b) Associate Counsel. Any United Nation with which Japan has
been at war may appoint an Associate Counsel to assist the Chief of Counsel.
Article 9. Procedure for Fair Trial. In order to insure Air trial for the
accused the following procedure shall be followed:
(a) Indictment. The indictment shall consist of a plain,
concise, and adequate statement of each offense charged. Each accused shall be
furnished, in adequate time for defense, a copy of the indictment, including
any amendment, and of this Charter, in a language understood by the accused.
(b) Language. The trial and related proceedings shall be conducted
in English and in the language of the accused. Translations of documents and
other papers shall be provided as needed and requested.
(c) Counsel for Accused. Each accused shall have the right to be
represented by counsel of his own selection, subject to the disapproval of such
counsel at any time by the Tribunal. The accused shall file with the General
Secretary of the Tribunal the name of his counsel. If an accused is not
represented by counsel and in open court requests the appointment of counsel,
the Tribunal shall designate counsel for him. In the absence of such request
the Tribunal may appoint counsel for an accused if in its judgment such
appointment is necessary to provide for a fair trial.
(d) Evidence for Defense. An accused shall have the right, through
himself or through his counsel (but not through both), to conduct his defense,
including the right to examine any witness, subject to such reasonable
restrictions as the Tribunal may determine.
(e) Production of Evidence for the
Defense. An accused may
apply in writing to the Tribunal for the production of witnesses or of
documents. The application shall state where the witness or document is thought
to be located. It shall also state the facts proposed to be proved by the
witness of the document and the relevancy of such facts to the defense. If the
Tribunal grants the application the Tribunal shall be given such aid in
obtaining production of the evidence as the circumstances require.
Article 10. Applications and Motions
before Trial. All motions,
applications, or other requests addressed to the Tribunal prior to the
commencement of trial shall be made in writing and filed with the General
Secretary of the Tribunal for action by the Tribunal.
Article 11. Powers. The Tribunal shall have the power
(a) To summon witnesses to the trial, to
require them to attend and testify, and to question them,
(b) To interrogate each accused and to
permit comment on his refusal to answer any question,
(c) To require the production of documents
and other evidentiary material,
(d) To require of each witness an oath,
affirmation, or such declaration as is customary in the country of the witness,
and to administer oaths,
(e) To appoint officers for the carrying
out of any task designated by the Tribunal, including the power to have
evidence taken on commission.
Article 12. Conduct of Trial. The Tribunal shall
(a) Confine the trial strictly to an
expeditious hearing of the issues raised by the charges,
(b) Take strict measures to prevent any
action which would cause any unreasonable delay and rule out irrelevant issues
and statements of any kind whatsoever,
(c) Provide for the maintenance of order
at the trial and deal summarily with any contumacy, imposing appropriate
punishment, including exclusion of any accused or his counsel from some or all
further proceedings, but without prejudice to the determination of the charges,
(d) Determine the mental and physical
capacity of any accused to proceed to trial.
Article 13. Evidence
(a) Admissibility. The Tribunal shall not be bound by
technical rules of evidence. It shall adopt and apply to the greatest possible
extent expeditious and non-technical procedure, and shall admit any evidence
which it deems to have probative value. All purported admissions or statements
of the accused are admissible.
(b) Relevance. The Tribunal may require to be informed of the nature
of any evidence before it is offered in order to rule upon the relevance.
(c) Specific Evidence Admissible. In particular, and without limiting in
any way the scope of the foregoing general rules, the following evidence may be
admitted:
(1) A document, regardless of its security
classification and without proof of its issuance or signature, which appears to
the Tribunal to have been signed or issued by any officer, department, agency
or member of the armed forces of any government.
(2) A report which appears to the Tribunal
to have been signed or issued by the International Red Cross or a member
thereof, or by a doctor of medicine or any medical service personnel, or by an
investigator or intelligence officer, or by any other person who appears to the
Tribunal to have personal knowledge of the matters contained in the report.
(3) An affidavit, deposition or other
signed statement.
(4) A diary, letter or other document,
including sworn or unsworn statements which appear to the Tribunal to contain
information relating to the charge.
(5) A copy of a document or other
secondary evidence of its contents, if the original is not immediately
available.
(d)
Judicial Notice. The Tribunal shall neither require proof, of facts of
common knowledge, nor of the authenticity of official j government documents
and reports of any nation nor of the proceedings, records, and findings of
military or other agencies of any of the United Nations.
(e) Records, Exhibits and Documents. The transcript of the proceedings, and
exhibits and documents submitted to the Tribunal, will be filed with the
General Secretary of the Tribunal and will constitute part of the Record.
Article 14. Place of Trial. The first trial will be held at Tokyo and
any subsequent trials will be held at such places as the Tribunal decided
Article 15. Course of Trial Proceedings. The proceedings the Trial will take the
following course:
(a) The indictment will be read in court
unless the reading is waived by all accused.
(b) The Tribunal will ask each accused
whether he pleads "guilty" or "not guilty."
(c) The prosecution and each accused (by
counsel only, if represented) may make a concise opening statement.
(d) The prosecution and defense may offer
evidence and the admissibility of the same shall be determined by the Tribunal.
(e) The prosecution and each accused (by
counsel only, if represented) may examine each witness and each accused who
gives testimony.
(f) Accused (by counsel only, if
represented) may address the Tribunal.
(g) The prosecution may address the
Tribunal.
(h) The Tribunal will deliver judgment and
pronounce sentence.
Article 16. Penalty. The Tribunal shall have the power to
impose upon an accused, on conviction, death or such other punishment as shall
be determined by it to be just.
Article 17. Judgment and Review. The judgment will be announced in open
court and will give the reasons on which it is based. The record of the trial
will be transmitted directly to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers for
his action thereon. A sentence will be carried out in accordance with the order
of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, who may at any time reduce or
otherwise alter the sentence except to increase its severity.
By command of General MacArthur:
RICHARD J. MARSHALL Major General, General Staff Corps,
Chief of Staff.
OFFICIAL: B. M. FITCH
Brigadier General, AGD,
Adjutant General.