June 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear appeals by Guantanamo Bay inmates, held without trial for more than five years, who say the Bush administration and Congress have deprived them of a constitutional right to go to federal court.

The justices said they will decide whether a 2006 law validly bars judges from considering so-called habeas corpus petitions filed by prisoners challenging their detention at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The government is holding 375 inmates there, and only 10 men have ever faced charges.

``Hundreds of men are currently facing lifelong imprisonment without any assurance that they will ever be tried on a criminal charge or given any fair opportunity to challenge the purported basis of their apprehension and detention by the government,'' one of the appeals argued.

Today's action is a reversal for the court, which in April rejected the same two appeals over the objections of three justices who voted to grant a hearing. It's the first time in decades the court has agreed to hear arguments in a previously rejected case. The justices will consider the cases during the nine-month term that starts in October. The court issued its final decisions of the current term yesterday.

High court review creates a new legal headache for President George W. Bush, whose administration urged the justices not to hear the appeals. U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement said the inmates' constitutional rights are protected by a 2005 law that authorizes military hearings and limited judicial review.

Previous Cases

``No other captured enemy combatants in the history of this country, or any other, have enjoyed such privileges,'' argued Clement, the administration's top courtroom lawyer.

In three previous cases since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Supreme Court put limits on presidential power to determine the fate of Guantanamo detainees without more involvement of the other two branches of government.

The administration says the latest dispute is different because Congress explicitly stripped federal trial judges of their power to hear habeas petitions from detainees. Such petitions are a centuries-old legal device used by inmates to claim they are being wrongfully held.

Lawmakers put in place a new system that requires the military to review each inmate's status as an ``enemy combatant'' on a regular basis and gives detainees limited rights to appeal those conclusions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the law on a 2-1 vote.

New Developments

``We didn't think that court review at this time was necessary, but we're confident in our legal position,'' White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

When the high court refused to hear the cases in April, Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy said they voted not to grant a hearing ``despite the obvious importance of the issues.'' They said the detainees should first go before military tribunals.

Three other justices -- Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter -- voted at that time to hear the appeals.

Military-law experts pointed to several developments since then that might have prompted wavering justices to conclude they needed to intervene.

Earlier this month, military judges threw out charges against two inmates, saying the men hadn't been properly classified. Later, a military officer and lawyer who had been involved in overseeing the tribunals said the process was flawed and that prosecutors had been pressured to label detainees as enemy combatants.

`Deciding By Not Deciding'

``All these things add up,'' said Eugene Fidell, a military law expert at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell in Washington. He said the justices might have concluded they needed to get involved because ``they were deciding by not deciding.''

Under Supreme Court rules, at least five of the nine justices must agree to reconsider a decision rejecting an appeal. Ordinarily, four justices' votes are needed to grant review.

Kennedy cast the deciding vote in 2006 when the court barred Bush's original plan to try Guantanamo Bay inmates before military tribunals. The ruling scaled back presidential wartime powers.

``Kennedy is clearly the critical vote here,'' said Michael Greenberger, a law professor and director of the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security in Baltimore. ``My own view is that everything that has happened since April 2 almost certainly led him to believe that enough is enough.''

Detainee Treatment Act

The court's order today noted that the D.C. Circuit is currently considering what rights inmates have under the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act. The justices said they would seek legal briefs from the government and detainees once the appeals court rules in two cases before it.

The D.C. Circuit ruling may play a central role in the Supreme Court case because of the Bush administration's contention that the 2005 law provides an adequate substitute for habeas review. Lawyers for the inmates contend the lower court ruling soon will show the inadequacy of the tribunals.

Under the 2005 law, panels known as Combat Status Review Tribunals consider the ``enemy combatant'' status of each prisoner on a regular basis. Inmates can challenge those decisions in the D.C. Circuit.

The status review tribunals sharply limit the evidence inmates can present and bar them from being represented by lawyers. The rules also put the burden on detainees to prove that they shouldn't be detained. In addition, the 2005 law limits the issues the D.C. Circuit can consider on appeal.

The justices today agreed to hear arguments from two groups of detainees. One consists of six Algerian natives seized in Bosnia in 2002 and held ever since at Guantanamo without charges.

The other appeal was filed by 39 prisoners, most taken into custody in Afghanistan or the bordering areas of Pakistan. Most aren't facing criminal charges.

The cases are Boumediene v. Bush, 06-1195, and Al Odah v. United States, 06-1196.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 29, 2007 14:32 EDT