In the enclosure are transmitted
1. a decree of the Fuehrer and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of 7.12.41
2. an executory decree of the same day
3. a circular of the Chief of the Armed Forces High Command of 12.12.41
The decree carries a basic innovation. The Fuehrer and commander in chief of the armed forces commands that crimes of the specified sort committed by civilians of the occupied territories are to be punished by the pertinent courts martial in the occupied territories only when
(a) The sentence calls for the death penalty
and (b) the sentence is pronounced within 8 days after the arrest.
Only when both conditions are met does the Fuehrer and commander in chief of the armed forces hope for the desired deterrent effect from the conduct of punitive proceedings in the occupied territories.
In other cases in the future the accused are to be secretly brought to Germany and the further conduct of the trial carried on here. The deterrent effect of these measures lies
(a) in allowing the disappearance of the accused without a trace,
(b) therein, that no information whatsoever may be given about their whereabouts and their fate.