首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Moral responsibility is all very well, but what about military orders? Is it not the soldier’s duty to give instant obedience to
Moral responsibility is all very well, but what about military orders? Is it not the soldier’s duty to give instant obedience to
admin
2010-04-24
18
问题
Moral responsibility is all very well, but what about military orders? Is it not the soldier’s duty to give instant obedience to orders given by his military superiors? And apart from duty, will not the soldier suffer severe punishment, even death, if he refuses to do what he is ordered to? If, then, a soldier is told by his superior to burn this house or to shoot that prisoner, how can he be held criminally accountable on the ground that the burning or shooting was a violation of the laws of war?
These are some of the questions that are raised by the concept commonly called "superior orders", and its use as a defense in war crimes trials. It is an issue that must be as old as the laws of war themselves, and it emerged in legal guise over three centuries ago when, after the Stuart restoration in 1660, the commander of the guards at the trial and execution of Charles I was put on trial for treason and murder. The officer defended himself on the ground "that all I did was as a soldier, by the command of my superior officer whom I must obey or die," but the court gave him short shrift, saying that "When the command is traitorous, then the obedience to that command is also traitorous."
Though not precisely articulated, the rule that is necessarily implied by this decision is that it is the soldier’s duty to obey lawful orders, but that he may disobey--and indeed must, under some circum-stances-unlawful orders. Such has been the law of the United States since the birth of the nation. In 1804, Chief Justice John Marshall declared that superior orders would justify a subordinate’s conduct only "if not to perform a prohibited act," and there are many other early decisions to the same effect.
A strikingly illustrative case occurred in the wake of that conflict which most Englishmen have never heard (although their troops burned the White House) and which we call the War of 1812. Our country was baldly split by that war too and, at a time when the United States Navy was not especially popular in New England, the ship-in-the-line Independence was lying in Boston Harbor. A passer-by directed abusive language at a marine standing guard on the ship, and the marine, Bevans by name, ran his bayonet through the man. Charged with murder, Bevans produced evidence that the marines on the Independence had been ordered to bayonet anyone showing them disrespect. The case was tried before Justice Joseph Story, next to Marshall, the leading judicial figure of those years, who charged that any such order as Bevans had invoked "would be illegal and void," and, if given and put into practice, both the superior and the subordinate would be guilty of murder. In consequence, Bevans was convicted.
The order allegedly given to Bevans was pretty drastic, and Boston Harbor was not a battlefield; perhaps it was not too much to expect the marine to realize that literal compliance might lead to bad trouble. But it is only too easy to conceive of circumstances where the matter might not be at all clear. Does the subordinate obey at peril that the order may later be ruled illegal, or is protected unless he has a good reason to doubt its validity?
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that if a soldier obeys his superior’s order to burn a house or to kill a prisoner, ______ .
选项
A、he is right according to moral standards
B、he should not receive any punishment
C、he should certainly be liable for his action
D、he will be convicted according to the law of war
答案
B
解析
推理判断题。根据文章第一段最后一句话可知,虽然烧房子和枪杀俘虏是违反战争法的,但由于服从命令是士兵职责内的事,并且从表述的反问语气上(士兵是奉命行事,怎么就能以烧杀抢掠违反战争法定罪呢?)可知这个士兵不应该受到惩罚。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xX2K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
UFOsTherearemanyexplanationsforwhyUFOsvisittheEarth./Themostpopularoneisthattheymaybevisitorsfromot
Thereseemsnevertohavebeenacivilizationwithouttoys,butwhenandhowtheydevelopedisunknown.Theyprobablycameabout
Mr.Johnsoncouldn’tshakethe______thatthesewoundedsoldierswereindeeptroubleanditwasuptohimtohelpthem.
TherearefewstrangeralliancesinAmerica’sculturewarsthantheonebetweennativistsandmulticulturalistsonthesubjecto
Whatisneededtoapplyforanonlineassociatedegree?
Islanguage,likefood,abasichumanneedwithoutwhichachildatacriticalperiodoflifecanbestarvedanddamaged?Judgin
Mostpeoplewhotravellongdistancescomplainofjetlag.Jetlagmakesbusinesstravelerslessproductiveandmoreprone【C1】____
Mostpeoplewhotravellongdistancescomplainofjetlag.Jetlagmakesbusinesstravelerslessproductiveandmoreprone【C1】____
Whenpeopleplantomeetnowadays,they______.AccordingtothetwoBritishresearchers,thesocialandpsychologicaleffects
Whenyouthinkofthetremendoustechnologicalprogresswehavemade,it’samazinghowlittlewehavedevelopedinotherrespect
随机试题
不需要任何中间转换机构就可以将电能直接转换成直线运动的电磁驱动装置是_______电动机。
A.一度房室传导阻滞B.二度Ⅰ型房室传导阻滞C.二度Ⅱ型房室传导阻滞D.三度房室传导阻滞(2008年第140题)听诊第一心音由强变弱见
设备监理的对象是设备的()。
对于高层民用建筑内的营业厅,其室内任何一点至最近的疏散出口的直线距离不宜超过()m。
经济法律关系是指由经济法律规范所确认的,在经济管理和经济协作过程中所产生的()关系。
我们每个人都应该有这样的生活态度:如果你赋予工作意义,不论工作轻重,你都会感到快乐,自我设定的成绩不论高低,都会使人对工作产生乐趣。如果你不喜欢做的话,任何简单的事都会变得困难、无趣,当你叫喊着这个工作很累人时,即使你不卖力气,你也会感到筋疲力尽,反之就大
J.Martin规划方法中,下列各图()使用得最多。
在设计程序时,应采纳的原则之一是______。
Mostworthwhilecareersrequiresomekindofspecializedtraining.Ideally,therefore,thechoiceofan【C1】______shouldbemade
Asadevelopingcountry,wemustkeep______withtherapiddevelopmentoftheworldeconomy.
最新回复
(
0
)