So that the jurisdiction in so-called Night and Fog [Nacht und Nebelsachen--NN] cases, can be judged, we shall put in evidence that in the main the military courts alone were competent. Section 3, paragraph 2, of the Decree for Military Jurisdiction During Wartime [Kriegsstrafverfahrensordnung] formed the legal basis for handing over those cases to the general courts. This decree concerning military jurisdiction during wartime and special operations was issued on 17 August 1938, and published in the Reich Law Gazette 1939, part I, page 1457. It was only signed by the Fuehrer and Reichskanzler and by the Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht [Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces]. This decree fixes the scope of military jurisdiction and subordinates all foreigners and Germans to this military jurisdiction for all criminal offenses committed by them in the area of operations. According to section 3, paragraph 2, of this decree, military courts however are to prosecute such crimes only if it is judged necessary for military reasons. It is within their discretion to turn over the prosecution of criminal cases to the general courts. On the basis of this legal foundation, and in accordance with an agreement between the Chief of the Armed Forces Legal Department, Dr. Lehmann--who has appeared here before the Tribunal as witness--and the former Under Secretary Dr. Freisler, prisoners held in Night and Fog cases were placed before a German court in the sense of paragraph 30 of the Hague Regulations on Land Warfare. The fact that the proceedings [of an NN case] were kept secret in all its phases was justified for military reasons. According to paragraph 6 of the basic treaty of the Hague Regulations on Land Warfare, military interests come first, and then comes the protection of the civilian population. The administrators of justice could not decide about the scope of the military interests. It could never be the task of the civilian judicial authorities to judge whether the military commanders correctly interpreted the competition of military necessity in the sense of subparagraph 8 of the introduction to the basic treaty of the Hague Regulations on Land Warfare.