Presiding Officer (Guantanamo Military Commissions)

The United States of America has charged Guantanamo captives before "Military Commissions", each presided over by a Presiding Officer.

The Presiding Officer were initially to serve as the first among equals on bodies were the commission members served the roles similar to both judge and jury.

In the first version of the Military Commissions the Presiding Officer was to be the only member of the Commission who was a lawyer. So the Presiding Officer would be making all the ruling similar to the rulings on points of law that a judge makes in courts of law. But the Presiding Officer would also be voting on the suspect's guilt or innocence -- unlike in a jury trial.

The Commission system was extensively reformed in the summer of 2004. Several of the original Commission members of the first Commission were retired, because of their inherent bias. The structure of the Commissions were changed, so that the Presiding Officer would no long vote on the suspect's guilt. In the summer of 2005 leaked memos were published that revealsed that prior to the reorganization the first Chief Prosecutor, Fred Borch, promised his subordinates that only officers who could be counted on to convict suspects would be chose as Commission members, and that Prosecutors would not have to worry about exculpatory evidence -- as it would all be classified so it could be withheld from the suspect's attorneys on National Security grounds. [cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1426797.htm
title=Leaked emails claim Guantanamo trials rigged
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
author= Leigh Sales
date=2005-08-01
accessdate=2008-08-14
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2Fnewsitems%2F200508%2Fs1426797.htma&date=2008-08-14 mirror] ] [cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1428749.htm
title=Leaked emails claim Guantanamo trials rigged
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
author= Leigh Sales
date=2005-08-03
accessdate=2008-08-14
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2Fnewsitems%2F200508%2Fs1428749.htm+&date=2008-08-14 mirror] ] [cite news
url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1846734
title=Chief Guantanamo Prosecutor Departs
publisher=National Public Radio
author=
date=2004-04-22
accessdate=2008-08-14
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D1846734&date=2008-08-14 mirror] ]

Peter Brownback -- the first Presiding Officer, was unexpectedly replaced in the summer of 2008.cite news
url=http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCANASU5290220080530?sp=true
title=Guantanamo judge dismissed in Canadian's case
publisher=Reuters
author=Jane Sutton
date=May 29 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/551526.html
title=Gitmo judge removed from Canadian's case
publisher=Miami Herald
author=Michael Melia
date=May 29 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080529.wkhadr0529/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080529.wkhadr0529
title=Khadr judge at Guantanamo Bay relieved of duties
publisher=Globe and Mail
author=Omar El Akkad
date=May 29, 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=549763
title=Pentagon fires Khadr judge: Col. Peter Brownback replaced after chastising prosecution
publisher=National Post
author=Steven Edwards
date=May 29 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/641581.html
title=Gitmo judge removed from Canadian's case
publisher=Kansas City Star
author=Michael Melia
date=May 29 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnNASU52902.html
title=Guantanamo judge dismissed in Canadian's case
publisher=Reuters
date=May 29 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/05/29/judge-khadr.html
title=Khadr judge fired, says his military lawyer
publisher=CBC News
date=Thursday, May 29, 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] cite news
url=http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gMFtTJrQcHknWUFeUfvS9Lo9_7zA
title=U.S. military dumps judge in Khadr terrorism case in surprise move
publisher=Canadian Press
date=May 29 2008
accessdate=2008-05-29
quote=] Critics speculated that he had been fired because he kept trying to force Omar Khadr's prosecution to release evidence to Khadr's Defense attorneys.

References