Kangaroo Court

It seems some folks Down Under still care about little things like due process and the rule of law.

[JURIST] The Law Council of Australia, the country's national organization for lawyers, on Tuesday issued harsh criticism [press release] of the trial of former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, saying the trial was "a charade." The council's report, prepared by lawyer Lex Lasry, criticized the American and Australian governments on the trial, concluding that:

The "trial" of David Hicks, which took place in March 2007, was a charade.

A pre-trial agreement had been signed and the balance of the legal procedings was entirely surplus to requirements, although designed to lay a veneer of due process over a political and pragmatic bargain. The veneer cracked immediately.

Ultimately, there has been no benefit from the process; only a corrosion of the rule of law.

No ground can be claimed to have been made in the so-called War on Terror. The Military Commission process at Guantanamo likewise has neither gained from it, nor shown any prospect of improvement.

Well, it's not like a real trial would have mattered. After all, the law only applies to certain people, and even then Team Bush gets to decide who those people should be. After all, we gotta stop them terrists at all costs and anything goes, right?