The principle was first officially annunciated in the Moscow Declaration of 1943, which was signed by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. As a result of the declaration, the Allies set up a War Crimes Commission that met in London throughout 1944, preparing lists of war criminals and debating ways of dealing with them.

There was much disagreement among members of the commission and within the allied governments about the fate of the Nazi human rights violators. Some favored summary execution for the worst offenders, others a quick trial and execution. But it was ultimately agreed that the Nazi leaders should be tried according to accepted principles of law so that a precedent would be firmly established.

At a conference in London, a plan for the trial system was adopted. This became the London Charter, the basic document of the International Military Tribunal and of the entire Nuremberg trial procedure.

In the most important of the cases heard at Nuremberg, the indictment named 22 Nazi leaders and charged them with conspiracy against peace, crimes against peace, and violations of the laws of war. Perhaps even more important, they were found guilty of crimes against humanity for the human rights violations perpetrated against their own nationals and subjects. The prosecutors cited such international agreements as The Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention of 1929 to support the indictment. Of the 22 defendants, 19 were found guilty; three were acquitted of the charges.

Commenting on the meaning of Nuremberg to future generations, Edward R. Murrow, a radio reporter whose wartime broadcasts from Europe informed millions of Americans, said: "It is now established that planning, preparing, and initiating aggressive war constitutes an international crime. And it is also established that atrocities -- crimes against humanity -- are not merely the responsibility of those who commit them, but also the responsibility of the highest government officials."