hearing in the Court of Appeal. It is paramount that the principle of equality of arms be observed at all stages, which implies that the accused must have an opportunity to present his case under conditions which do not place him at a disadvantage in relation to other parties to the case. moreover, ex officio take the disqualification grounds into consideration. 6.2 The State party concedes that the proceedings before the Rääkkyla District Court did not meet the requirement of judicial impartiality, as was acknowledged by the Court of Appeal. It was incumbent upon the Court of Appeal to correct this procedural error; the court considered that the failure to exclude lay judge V. S. did not influence the verdict, and that it was able to reconsider the matter in toto, on the basis of the trial transcript and the recording thereof. 6.6 The State party contends that while the Committee has repeatedly held that it is not in principle competent to evaluate the facts and evidence in a particular case, it should be its duty to clarify that the judicial proceedings as a whole were fair, including the way in which evidence was obtained. The State party concedes that the issue of whether a judge’s possible personal motives influenced the decision of the court is not normally debated; thus, such motives cannot normally be found in the reasoned judgement of the court. 6.3 The State party concedes that the Court of Appeal’s opinion might be challenged, in that the alleged improper remarks of V. S. could very well have influenced the procurement of evidence and the content of the court’s decision. Similarly, since the request for a public appeal hearing was rejected by the Court of Appeal, it could be argued that no public hearing in the case took place, since the procedure before the District Court was flawed, and the Court of Appeal did not return the matter for reconsideration by a properly qualified District Court. 6.7 The State party observes that if the obvious disqualification of lay judge V. S. is taken into account, “neither the subjective, nor the objective test of the impartiality of the court may very well said to have been passed. It may indeed be inquired whether a trial held in th[ese] circumstances together with its documentary evidence may be regarded to such an extent reliable that it has been possible for the court of appeal to decide the matter solely ... by a written procedure”. 6.4 Concerning the issue of publicity of the proceedings, the State party affirms that while this rule is of great practical significance in proceedings before the lower courts (where they are almost always oral), the hearing of an appeal before the Court of Appeal is generally a written procedure. Proceedings as such are not public but the documents gathered in the process are accessible to the public. Wherever necessary, the Court of Appeal may hold oral proceedings, which may be confined to only part of the issues addressed in the appeal. In the author’s case, the Court of Appeal did not consider it necessary to hold a separate oral hearing on the matter. 6.8 On the other hand, the State party argues, the author had indeed the opportunity to challenge the disqualification of V. S. in the District Court, and to put forth his case in both the appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Since both the prosecutor and the author appealed against the verdict of the District Court, it could be argued that the Court of Appeal was in a position to review the matter in toto, and that accordingly the author was not placed in a position that would have significantly obstructed his defence or influenced the verdict in a way contrary to article 14. 6.5 The State party notes that neither the Committee’s General Comment on article 14 nor its jurisprudence under the Optional Protocol provides direct guidance for the resolution of the case; it suggests that the interpretation of article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms may be used to assist in the interpretation of article 14 of the Covenant. In this context, the State party observes that the evaluation of the fairness of a trial in the light of article 14 of the Covenant must be made on the basis of an overall evaluation of the individual case, as the shortcomings in the proceedings before a lower court may be corrected through a 6.9 The State party reiterates that the publicity of judicial proceedings is an important aspect of article 14, not only for the protection of the accused but also to maintain public confidence in the functioning of the administration of justice. Had the Court of Appeal held a public oral hearing in the case, or quashed the verdict of the District Court, then the flaw in the composition of the latter could have been deemed corrected. As this did not occur in 110