WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to turn away a challenge to the military commissions the Bush administration created to put some detainees at Guantanamo Bay on trial for war crimes.Lawyers for
Hamdan's lawyers object to the possibility that classified documents will be introduced against him at trial and that he would not be given
The Justice Department pointed out that the Pentagon relaxed the rules for tribunals a week ago, enabling classified information to be shared with defendants "to the extent consistent with national security, law enforcement interests and applicable law." The rewritten rule also bars the admission of classified information if it "would result in the denial of a full and fair trial." The rule changes also mean that the makeup of the tribunal hearing Hamdan's case is likely to change, overcoming another of Hamdan's objections, said the Justice Department.
Hamdan was not allowed to be present when his lawyers challenged the impartiality of the U.S. military officers sitting on the commission that was to hear Hamdan's case.
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.
The shift in responsibilities is likely to result in replacing the other members of the commission. They were the ones challenged by Hamdan's lawyers, so the fact that Hamdan was not allowed to be present when their impartiality was called into question is no longer an issue, the department said.