Federal appeals court narrows the type of crimes that can be tried by military commissions
A federal appeals court on Friday overturned the conspiracy conviction of Osama bin Laden’s spokesperson in an opinion that narrowed the types of crimes that can be tried by military commissions.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision (PDF) that military commissions may try only those offenses that are crimes under the international law of war, the Blog of Legal Times reports. How Appealing links to additional coverage.
The appeals court ruled in the case of Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul, who was convicted for conspiracy to commit war crimes.
The majority opinion by Judge Judith Rogers said the commission prosecution violated the separation of powers under Article III of the Constitution, which gives the judiciary the authority to try domestic crimes. There is no Article III exception for the crime of conspiracy, which entailed a right to jury under common law, Rogers said.
In a post at the Just Security blog, American University law professor Steve Vladeck called the decision “a Very. Big. Deal.” The case is Al Bahlul v. United States.
“In practical terms,” he wrote, “al Bahlul could prove to be the final nail in the coffin of the commissions for just about anything other than the 9/11 trial.”
