Wiktionary:Word of the day/November 20

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Nuremberg defense n (American spelling)

(ethics, international law, idiomatic) An explanation offered as an excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly superiors) to do so. (US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law is itself unlawful. The trials of major war criminals by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, after World War II began on this day in 1945, lasting till 1 October 1946.

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