Military Commissions Act of 2006
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is a U.S. law that authorizes trial by military commissions. It was enacted to regularize some of the process of charges against persons captured and considered unlawful combatants. It was passed as Public Law 109–366 on October 17, 2006.[1]
It defines, for U.S. purposes, an "unlawful enemy combatant" "as a person who has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its co-belligerents who is not a lawful enemy combatant (including a person who is part of the Taliban, al-Qaeda, or associated forces) or a person who, before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, has been determined to be an unlawful enemy combatant by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal or another competent tribunal established under the authority of the President or the Secretary of Defense."
Competent tribunal is a term used in Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention. There is controversy if the tribunals defined by this Act are in full compliance with that Article.