Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume IIIVarious
History
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume III
Various
Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946; War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
In the development of the Weimar constitution, after initial wavering,
there evolved the principle that the new Chancellor appointed or
signed the dismissal of the old Chancellor and his own appointment,
which is really illogical. I don’t think there is any need for me
to explain that any further. But as the Weimar constitution in
Article 50[145] provided that every provision made by the president
should be countersigned by the Reich Chancellor, or one of the Reich
ministers--at least one--one was compelled to have even the appointment
of the new Chancellor countersigned. That means naturally for the new
Chancellor that he drags himself out of the mire by his own efforts.
Counsel, if your question refers to 30 January--formally the procedure
was orderly; a great deal more difficult is the question concerning
the Reich law of 24 March 1933, that famous law [the Enabling Act],
the validity of which was doubted so much; it is much more difficult
to answer if your question refers to that. That law has as its main
contents--I can almost say with a little exaggeration--the elimination
of the division of powers. Three provisions or groups of provisions of
the Weimar constitution are excepted, but for the rest the government
could now promulgate laws even if that meant changing the constitution
of the Reich; for the normal life of the people, legislators, and
supreme administrators are one and the same thing. That is a basic
change of the entire structure of the Weimar constitution. And I can
say frankly if I, during the first years of the Weimar constitution, as
an expert on constitutional law, had been asked whether the Reichstag,
even if there was a majority, could not change the constitution under
article 76[146]--if the Reichstag would make such decisions, could
pass a law which, in effect, eliminates the Reichstag,--if I had been
asked such a question I would have said there is nothing about that
in article 76 that restricts the passing of such laws; but there is
not only legality, there is also legitimacy in every constitution;
there are certain basic decisions contained in any constitution which
one cannot abandon without the entire losing of his character. But I
must say the German science of constitutional law, particularly in
the person of the most fanatic champions of democracy, did not take
that point of view. Gerhard Anschuetz, who if it is permitted to say
anything like that about a republic, was the crown jurist of the Weimar
republic, wrote the commentary to the constitution of the German
Reich which is the authoritative commentary. Gerhard Anschuetz whose
last position was that of professor at Heidelberg, was, I might say,
a temple guard of the Weimar constitution, and if he only thought an
attempt had been made to shake the foundations of democracy, perhaps
by creating a group of judges who could have reviewed decisions by
the Reichstag, he would have been furious. I must say that because
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