The United States Supreme Court says it will hear appeals by Afghan war detainees who challenged as unlawful their continued incarceration at a US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The court will review a ruling that lower courts do not have the jurisdiction to consider claims that inmates are being held in breach of international law, without access to their families or lawyers, and without being charged with any offence.
About 650 detainees from more than 40 countries are being held at the camp. The US says they are not protected by laws relating to Prisoners of War.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case next year, with a decision due by the end of June.
It marked the first time the court agreed to decide a case stemming from the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies.
