An EU court on Tuesday said it would allow Britain to extradite five terrorism suspects to the US, saying their detention on American soil wouldn’t violate EU rules on human rights.

The suspects have all been indicted by the US on terrorism charges at various times, according to the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.

The decision might seem surprising on its face, given the EU’s past criticism of the American justice system — it’s embrace of the death penalty, for example. But it is an interesting referendum on the US government's current handling of terrorism suspects.

The court was clear to note that it made the decision after the US said that it wouldn’t try them as enemy combatants, a designation that has in the past been controversial, to say the least. Here’s the official ruling:

The Court found that, given assurances provided by the United States, there was no real risk that these four applicants, if extradited to the USA, would either be designated as enemy combatants (with the consequences that that entailed, such as the death penalty) or subjected to extraordinary rendition.

The ruling, then, suggests that the court supports treatment of terrorism suspects that stays within the confines of other suspects in the US. It doesn’t weigh in on any of the unconventional approaches the US has taken, such as indefinite detentions, military tribunals or extraordinary renditions.