[JURIST] US Attorney General Michael Mukasey [official website; JURIST news archive] said on Monday that Congress should pass legislation [C-SPAN video, Flash; transcript] guiding US civilian courts on how to conduct Guantanamo detainees' habeas corpus proceedings because the judiciary should not make such determinations. Mukasey reiterated the Bush administration's disappointment [JURIST report] with the Supreme Court's June decision [text, PDF; JURIST report] that federal courts have jurisdiction to review habeas petitions filed by Guantanamo detainees, but said that the government's job now is to form policy in line with the Court's decision that will guide how courts handle the cases:

Congress and the Executive Branch are affirmatively charged by our Constitution with protecting national security, are expert in such matters, and are in the best position to weigh the difficult policy choices that are posed by these issues. Judges play an important role in deciding whether a chosen policy is consistent with our laws and the Constitution, but it is our elected leaders who have the responsibility for making policy choices in the first instance. So today, I am urging Congress to act – to resolve the difficult questions left open by the Supreme Court. I am urging Congress to pass legislation to ensure that the proceedings mandated by the Supreme Court are conducted in a responsible and prompt way and, as the Court itself urged, in a practical way.