Ruling on lawfulness of Guantanamo proceedings [US DC] News
Ruling on lawfulness of Guantanamo proceedings [US DC]

Salim Ahmed Hamden v. Donald H. Rumsfeld, United States District Court of the District of Columbia, Judge James Robertson, November 8, 2004. Excerpt:

Salim Ahmed Hamdan petitions for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the lawfulness of the Secretary of Defense's plan to try him for alleged war crimes before a military commission convened under special orders issued by the President of the United States, rather than before a court-martial convened under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The government moves to dismiss. Because Hamdan has not been determined by a competent tribunal to be an offender triable under the law of war, 10 U.S.C. § 821, and because in any event the procedures established for the Military Commission by the President's order are "contrary to or inconsistent" with those applicable to courts-martial, 10 U.S.C. § 836, Hamdan's petition will be granted in part. The government's motion will be denied.

Read the full text of the opinion here [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.