victors' justice
Winners judge losers
Victors' justice is the imposition of punishment by winners of a conflict on the losers, under circumstances where the winners' own comparable conduct goes unexamined.
The term implies that what presents itself as impartial justice is actually selective—the vanquished are tried for acts the victors committed with impunity.
Critics called the Nuremberg trials victors' justice.
The phrase carries a note of cynicism about whether true justice is possible when one side controls the proceedings.
- kangaroo courtIllegitimate proceeding ignoring procedure
- war crimes tribunalCourt for battlefield violations
- international tribunalMultinational judicial institution
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- show trialPredetermined judicial spectacle
double standards · partiality · reparations · accountability · peace treaties · human rights violations · unilateralism · subjugation · spoils of war · power imbalance · moral relativism · dominance · fairness · equity · authoritarianism · coercion · propaganda · geopolitical strategy
victors' justiceinternational law
Rules governing relations between countries
truth and reconciliation · restorative justice · International Criminal Court
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