superior orders
"Just following instructions"
Superior orders is a legal defense claiming that a person cannot be held responsible for unlawful acts committed under the command of a superior authority—typically military or governmental.
The defense argues the subordinate was merely following instructions and had no choice.
He claimed superior orders as justification for the massacre.
International law has largely rejected this defense since the Nuremberg trials, holding that individuals bear responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity regardless of who ordered them.
- obedienceCompliance with authority
- blind obedienceCompliance without critical thought
- commandAuthoritative instruction given
- commanding officerMilitary leader of unit
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
Nuremberg · war crimes trial · defense · military · tribunal · hierarchy · soldier · duty · compliance · war crimes · accountability · moral responsibility · following · Nazi Germany · chain of command · Wehrmacht · atrocities · crimes against humanity
superior ordersindividual autonomy
Power over own choices
self-direction · free will · personal choice · self-determination · voluntary action
superior ordersindividual responsibility
Duty for one's own actions
personal responsibility · individual accountability · moral agency · conscience · individual conscience
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