JAG CENTRAL

From the Washington Post, Pentagon Alters Rules in Trials of Guantanamo Detainees:

The Defense Department is changing several rules governing its military trials of terrorism suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, department officials said yesterday.

Pentagon officials portrayed the changes as improvements to a process they have repeatedly asserted assures all defendants a full and fair trial. Some private legal experts welcomed the changes but said they did not go far enough and did not address some of the most objectionable features of the trial system.

At a Pentagon news conference in which he announced the procedural changes, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Hemingway declined to say whether the adjustments amounted to major changes or minor tinkering.

"This will make for a more orderly process," Hemingway said. Asked whether the changes make the trials more fair, he replied, "Ultimately it might be, in the eyes of some people."

He said the most significant changes pertain to the duties of the presiding officer of the trials, or commissions. Under the new rules, the presiding officer is more like a judge in a court martial or civilian court and is required to rule on all questions of law; the other members of the commission will function more like a jury and are no longer permitted to participate in deciding most legal questions, Hemingway said.

The presiding officer can no longer vote with commission members on findings of guilt or innocence and sentencing. However, a majority of the other commission members may overrule the presiding officer on rulings regarding the admissibility of evidence, as was the case previously.

UPDATE: Dave Glazier at Intel Dump has a stinging criticism of the new rules, stating that "the changes actually do nothing to improve the fairness of the proceedings, and in one key respect actually represent a potential step back."

Categories: Detainees, Tribunals, Guantanamo, Newspapers