Abstract

This article pays tribute to the work and enduring legacy of Bert Röling, outstanding international criminal lawyer and judge at the Tokyo Tribunal. In this short essay, the author focuses on a number of specific topics which reveal both Röling’s foresight and his specific understanding of the individual suspect’s predicament when charged with international crimes. It is in this light that key issues such as Röling’s ideas about individual responsibility and the crime of aggression, or the superior responsibility of civilians standing in the dock at Tokyo, are addressed, along with an assessment of Röling’s position on related concepts such as duress and mistake of law. The essay concludes with some reflections on Röling’s general ideas and views on the functions and aims of international criminal law. Above all, the essay highlights Röling’s intellect and realism when dealing with international criminal law, and foregrounds this kind and humane man’s life-long search for even-handed justice.