Mission Experiential Education for Social Action

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The Prosecution of War Criminals in Canada

A Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals, headed by Mr. Justice Jules Deschenes, was established by the Federal Government on 7 February 1985 to determine whether or not alleged Nazi war criminals were resident in Canada and to recommend legal measures to ensure that such war criminals are brought to justice. The Commission submitted a two part Report to the Governor General in Council on 30 December 1986. Part I has been published, and Part II, concerned with allegations against specific individuals is confidential. The Commission, bearing in mind the concern of the Canadian public about all atrocities related to the activities of Nazi Germany during World War II, adopted a broad interpretation of its mandate and reviewed allegations concerning both war crimes and crimes against humanity. War crimes and crimes against humanity are overlapping categories of offences. The distinctions and similarities of the categories will be discussed in more detail later in this article. In brief, war crimes are well established international offences committed in time of hostilities and, generally speaking, directed against enemy nationals. Crimes against humanity are a relatively new type of international crime involving state directed atrocities committed in war or peace and aimed at any distinctive group including a part of one\u27s own population. In Part I of the Report Mr. Justice Desch~nes concluded that there were alleged Nazi war criminals resident in Canada and that existing legislation did not contain an appropriate vehicle for their prosecution. He recommended that the Criminal Code be amended so that war crimes would be offences under Canadian law whether or not Canada had participated in the specific war in which the crimes were committed and so that crimes against humanity wherever and whenever committed would be offences under Canadian law. Although Mr. Justice Desch~nes\u27 mandate was confined to war crimes related to the activities of Nazi Germany during World War II, he considered it necessary to propose legislative changes directed at all war crimes and all crimes against humanity as otherwise the legislation might be attacked as discriminatory and repugnant to the principles of fundamental justice prevailing in Canada and guaranteed under Section 7 of the Charter.\u2

In Defense of Fundamental Rights

The central question dealt with by William E. Conklin inIn Defense of Fundamental Rights is Why are fundamental rights considered fundamental? (p. 2). In Part I he looks at traditional juridical answers to this question (all of which he finds unacceptable). In Part II he turns to the answers of philophers, in particular John Stuart Mill and John Rawls, and then goes on to formulate his own view as to what is, in his words, the ultimate norm in a democratic society (p.6). Lastly he makes use of this norm to determine which rights are fundamental and when they may be infringed. In the Introduction Conklin discusses what he means by fundamental . This is the key term in his book and an ambiguous one so that such a discussion is necessary. As Edel has pointed out, when we say rights are fundamental we may mean either that they are axiomatic in the moral system; i.e., that they are the rights from which other rights derive, or that they have greater weight than other rights within the moral system

The new British drama 1956-1966 : a critical study of four dramatists: John Osborne, Brendan Behan, Arnold Wesker, and John Arden

In the history of England, as well as in the history of the English stage, 1956 was a momentous year. It was the year of the Suez, the year that saw the destruction of the myth of the British empire. And it was the year of the Hungarian Revolution, which crushed liberal illusions about Soviet Russia. In 1956 the old idols were crumbling fast, and defense of tradition was fast becoming not only impossible but ludicrous. The bankruptcy of the older generation was apparent; it was time for the new to speak out

Early proceedings of the Association of Professors of Mission. Vol 2

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