[1][2] it is regarded as a complement to command responsibility. The problem here is that we as historians in researching this question have to largely rely on official documentation of these cases, meaning that in a lot of ways, we only know of them because tribunals, orders, and courts mention them. Learn how the nuremberg defendants' argued that german leaders were following orders when committing atrocities during the holocaust.
I was only following orders : memes
Just following orders is a justification for morally questionable actions that a character may invoke when questioned about the rightness or necessity of such actions
This justification holds that the (bulk of the) responsibility for such …