amending the US War Crimes Act to specify criminal violations of Common Article 3 prescribing the procedure and substantive law to be applied by the commissions authorizing the President to establish military commissions for the prosecution of certain offenses committed by alien unlawful combatants

The MCA encompasses a wide range of measures, including provisions: This Insight focuses on the international legal dimensions of that Act. Its efforts resulted in the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), which was signed into law by President Bush on October 17, 2006. Shortly thereafter, the Bush Administration stated its intention to go to the US Congress to seek authorization to reconstitute the impugned commissions in light of the Court 's decision. In the wake of this decision, the Office of the US Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum noting that 'he Supreme Court has determined that Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 applies as a matter of law to the conflict with Al Qaeda,' and requesting Defense Department leadership to take steps to ensure compliance by all personnel. In so doing, the Court found the international law of armed conflict - including the standards of Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions - to be judicially cognizable in US courts, at least insofar as the Court construed it to be incorporated by reference in an Act of Congress. The Court based its decision in part on its finding that the establishment of the commission and rules governing commission proceedings violated relevant provisions of US law.

Rumsfeld, the US Supreme Court held that the military commission prosecuting Salim Ahmed Hamdan, an alleged Al-Qaeda affiliate captured during the US invasion of Afghanistan, lacked power to proceed.

Us law of armed conflict