Book Review: The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal: Law, History, and Jurisprudence

• Author: Samaria Muhammad
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1057567719877226
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

are familiar with, granting them the opportunity to assess how far the justice system has progressed

since the early 1950s and consider how contemporary practices and procedures may have altered

outcomes in the Dominici case.

While not sufficient for use in teaching the more basic concepts of investigative techniques or

court processes, the inclusion of The Dominici Affair as supplemental reading material may serve to

reinforce the fundamental ideas central to providing a fair and just trial or conducting a thorough

criminal investigation by presenting a sensational counterexample. By leaving it up to the reader to

compare the events described in The Dominici Affair to the justice system of today and to other

unsolved or famous cases, it is clear that Kitchen’s The Dominici Affair serves as a learning tool for

criminologists and criminal justice practitioners alike as a cautionary tale of a flawed system

stumbling in the pursuit of justice.

ORCID iD

Michael Goodier https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9489-5305

Cohen, D. J., & Totani, Y. (2018).

The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal: Law, History, and Jurisprudence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 556

pp. $145.00, ISBN: 9781316348659.

Reviewed by: Samaria Muhammad, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/1057567719877226

Cohen and Totani’s The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal:Law, History, and Jurisprudence is an in-depth

and well-considered legal analysis of the oft-called “Tokyo Trials,” more formally known as the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE). The authors’ book contributes to the

literature as the first systematic analysis of legal issues relevant to the IMTFE. It therefore separates

itself from other works surrounding the IMTFE, which typically address ideological, political, and

historical questions of the tribunal. By recounting and analyzing the tribunal from a legal perspec-

tive, the authors revisit the question of whether the IMTFE was an instance of “victor’s justice,”

encouraging readers to hold a nuanced view of the tribunal and to examine it through different

lenses. This perspective defines the book as a contributive work appropriate for scholars interested in

international law, international relations, and the history of international tribunals.

The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal: Law, History, and Jurisprudence is well-suited for diverse

audiences, but it is most appropriate for those with an academic or legal interest in the IMTFE. It

does not assume much background knowledge on the IMTFE, which makes it accessible to readers

with less experience on the subjec t. However, it goes into deep deta il on the decision-making

processes, arguments, and rulings relevant to the tribunal. This makes it a useful and more com-

prehensive tool for scholars with relevant interests. Overall, the book’s deep legal analysis and close

attention to detail is best suited for graduate students and legal or historical scholars. These groups

will find the book to be invaluable in understanding the IMFTE specifically, as well as its contri-

butions to the development of international law more broadly.

In Part I of the book, the authors thoroughly analyze the tribunal’s background, setting, charges,

and legal arguments. Here, they note that the manner in which the prosecution, defense, and judges

handle issues during the tribunal becomes heavily influential for international law in the present day.

After these examinations, Cohen and Totani assess judges’ opinions in Part II, arguing that the legal

objectives of trial judges are different than the collective goals of the Japanese or Allied

92 International Criminal Justice Review 31(1)