Kellogg-Briand Pact International Law

In my International Law course we are learning about The General Treaty for the Renunciation of War, also known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact. This pact was created in 1928, between both great wars.

The Pact is brief, containing only two articles, these being:

I.

The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.

II.

The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means. 

-The pact does not include any enforcement mechanisms.
-Prohibition of the resort to war is now a valid principle of international law.
-Reservations exist, making it apparent that the right to resort to force in self-defense is still a recognized principle in international law.

The pact was mentioned in the "Judgement of the International Military Tribunal" case, in which the defendants argued that "there could be no punishment of a crime without a pre-existing law."  However, the defendants; Germany, Italy, and Japan, were all members of this pact.