Leading article: Another rebuff from the Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court has delivered another stinging rebuff to George Bush and the way his administration has prosecuted its "war on terror". Having ruled that the prison camp at Guantanamo could not be outside US jurisdiction, the court has now decreed illegal the military tribunals at which the detainees were to be tried. In ordering such tribunals, its ruling said, President Bush had exceeded his authority.

With Republican appointees constituting a clear majority, the Supreme Court could be expected to give the benefit of any doubt to the Bush administration. It is testimony to the durability of the US Constitution, but also to the weakness of the President's case, that the court ruled as it did.

Mr Bush says he will work with Congress to find a solution. But the solution is surely obvious. Part one is to dismantle the arrangements for military tribunals forthwith. The fairness of such courts, given their relationship to the Pentagon, was always going to be suspect. They were a clear breach of the Geneva Conventions. The cases against the Guantanamo prisoners should be tested in a civilian court or not at all.

Part two is to close down the prison at Guantanamo altogether. This camp has been a travesty of justice since the day it was set up. It contravenes the most basic principles of human rights. It is a blot on the reputation of the United States, casting a shadow over its diplomacy with almost every other country in the world.

The remaining 450 detainees must be properly tried or freed. Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling should bring the closure of Guantanamo a step nearer.

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