894.043/6–2749
Mr. Robert R. West, Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)
Dear Mr. Butterworth: You will recall that on 23 August 1946, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent General MacArthur a directive (WCL 38511, 23 August 1946) prepared by the Department of State, to implement [Page 787] the policy adopted by the Far Eastern Commission on 15 August 1946.1 This directive provides that no criminal jurisdiction of any sort will be exercised by Japanese courts with respect to United Nations nationals, but that such criminal jurisdiction will be exercised by military courts established by the forces of occupation.
The Department of the Army has received a cable from General MacArthur (C 50913, 21 June 1949), a copy of which has been furnished Mr. Max Bishop, requesting that steps be taken to amend the directive of 23 August 1946. General MacArthur now believes that the Japanese should be authorized to exercise concurrent criminal jurisdiction over United Nations nationals, with the exception of those members of the United Nations enumerated in 1a. of the JCS directive. He states the occupation will be able to observe and correct, if necessary, any discriminatory or abusive practices in the event that the Japanese are permitted to exercise such limited concurrent criminal jurisdiction over United Nations nationals. It is noted that such a step would be in consonance with United States policy toward Japan, with respect to relaxing occupation controls and placing increased responsibility upon the Japanese government.
The Department of the Army is in complete agreement with General MacArthur in amending the Joint Chiefs of Staff directive of 23 August 1946, and therefore recommends that the Department of State introduce an appropriate proposal on this matter into the Far Eastern Commission.
Sincerely yours,
- See memorandum by General Hilldring, August 20, 1946, Foreign Relations, 1946, vol viii, p. 296.↩