WAR CRIMES ACT (1946). An Act respecting War Crimes.

WORLD WAR II. Canada. Parliament.

Published by Ottawa: Edmond Cloutier, 1946

About this Item

Octavo (9.5 inches). 10 George VI, Chapter 73 (Statutes of Canada). Caption title, 7 pages. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and expertly mended. World War II was a global war centred in Europe that began on 1 September 1939 and lasted until 2 September 1945. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes in many of the nations involved. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum to Germany to cease military operations, and after the ultimatum was ignored France and Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. As an ally of Britain, Canada also joined the war and participated until its conclusion in 1945. Immediately after the cease fire, Canadian military courts were able to exercise universal jurisdiction over war crimes, pursuant to the 1945 War Crimes Regulations (Canada) promulgated by Order in Council on 30 August 1945. The 1945 Regulations were formalized and re-enacted as the Schedule to the War Crimes Act, 1946. The Regulations (Canada) were similar to the British Royal Warrant of 14 June 1945, but apparently were limited in scope as compared with the British Royal Warrant since they did not provide for jurisdiction over crimes against humanity and aggression. Regulation 2 (f) of the Regulations (Canada) defined a war crime as a violation of the laws or usages of war committed during any war in which Canada has been or may be engaged at any time after the ninth day of September, 1939. Section 6 (1) of the Regulations (Canada) gave the convening officer the power to arrest a person when it was believed the suspect had at any place committed a war crime. However, it appears that the only prosecutions by Canadian military courts were based on crimes committed against members of the Canadian armed forces. Seller Inventory # 085

Bibliographic Details

Title: WAR CRIMES ACT (1946). An Act respecting War...

Publisher: Ottawa: Edmond Cloutier

Publication Date: 1946

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition