Justice Jackson’s 1946 Nuremberg Reflections at Buffalo: An Introduction

Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief U.S. Counsel at the International Military Tribunal, journeyed to Buffalo in October 1946 to deliver the University of Buffalo's Centennial Convocation address. Jackson had just presided over the Nuremberg trial's final judgment and used the Buffalo occasion to reflect on his experience and articulate lessons about education, war, and international law. The article introduces this remarkable speech, largely lost to historical memory until its publication in a law review. Jackson emphasized that the most serious crimes against civilization had been committed by educated, technically competent peoples, yet education had failed to prevent war. He critiqued international law's historical tolerance of warfare as acceptable statecraft and called for moral reform—arguing that nations must move beyond the doctrine of national sovereignty to recognize obligations under international law and principles of just war. Jackson warned that education's strongest argument for reform required reshaping civilization's cultural inheritance to view war as unacceptable. The speech addresses fundamental tensions between law and justice in the international order, national security imperatives, and the rule of law. Konefsky and Melish provide context for understanding Jackson's Nuremberg experience and its implications for international law, human rights, and the post-war global order.

Topics: International Law · Legal History · Constitutional Law

Keywords: Nuremberg trials · International Military Tribunal · Justice Jackson · international law · war crimes · human rights