Presiding Officer (Guantanamo military commissions)

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

Thus, 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.

However, the presiding officer would also be voting on the suspect's guilt or innocence—unlike in a jury trial.

The structure of the commissions was 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 revealed 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 chosen 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.

Hearing room where low-security Guantanamo captives military commission hearings are held. Separate hearing rooms for high-security hearings isolate the press in a sound-proof booth, where the closed-circuit audio can be killed by a mute switch when secrets are uttered.