[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] Wednesday ordered the release [decision, PDF; press release] of Congolese ex-militia leader Thomas Lubanga [ICC materials; BBC profile] after finding that past prosecutorial misconduct would prevent him from having a fair trial. The release order will go into effect in five days, barring an appeal by prosecutors and assuming the completion of transfer arrangements with a "state that is obliged to receive him." The court explained:

[T]he Chamber has concluded that the logical - indeed the inevitable - consequence of the Decision is that the only correct course is to order the release of the accused, because, consistent with the Decision and on the basis of the available information, a fair trial of the accused is impossible, and the entire justification for his detention has been removed. It would be unlawful for the Chamber to order him to remain in what, in reality, would be preventative detention or to impose conditional release.