This is volume 1 of a new, 5-volume reference work which rectifies a lamentable gap in access to rich war crimes trial jurisprudence from the post-World War II era. It offers a comprehensive collection of the Law Reports of the 300 Australian Military Courts trials held between 1945-1951, together with location essays on their background and relevance. Launched at a propitious time in which Australia is engaged in a significant criminal investigation of alleged ADF war crimes in Afghanistan, it will be of lasting value both within Australia and outside it in the wider realm of international criminal law. Many other Allied nations conducted their own military trials in both the European and Pacific theatres post-WWII, and the Australian experience, documented in these unique volumes, offers an important template for other national initiatives of this kind. The collection supplies i.a. trial transcripts and analysis of prosecution and defense arguments, relevant legal issues, judgments and sentences. It is a rich and unrivalled resource for historians and scholars as well as practitioners of international criminal law.
