8. The Human Rights Committee, acting under article 5, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is of the view that the facts before it reveal a violation of article 14, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. the author’s case, his demand for an oral hearing may be considered justified in the light of article 14 of the Covenant. Examination of the merits 7.1 The Committee is called upon to determine whether the disqualification of lay judge V. S. and his alleged disruption of the testimony of the author’s wife influenced the evaluation of evidence by, and the verdict of, the Rääkkyla District Court, in a way contrary to article 14, and whether the author was denied a fair trial on account of the Court of Appeal’s refusal to grant the author’s request for an oral hearing. As the two questions are closely related, the Committee will address them jointly. The Committee expresses its appreciation for the State party’s frank cooperation in the consideration of the author’s case. 9. In accordance with the provisions of article 2 of the Covenant, the State party is under an obligation to provide the author with an effective remedy for the violation suffered. 10. The Committee would wish to receive from the State party, within 90 days, information about any measures adopted by the State party in respect of the Committee’s Views. APPENDIX Individual opinion submitted by Mr. Bertil Wennergren, pursuant to rule 94, paragraph 3, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, concerning the Views of the Committee on communication No. 387/1989, Arvo O. Karttunen v. Finland 7.2 The impartiality of the court and the publicity of proceedings are important aspects of the right to a fair trial within the meaning of article 14, paragraph 1. “Impartiality” of the court implies that judges must not harbour preconceptions about the matter put before them, and that they must not act in ways that promote the interests of one of the parties. Where the grounds for disqualification of a judge are laid down by law, it is incumbent upon the court to consider ex officio these grounds and to replace members of the court falling under the disqualification criteria. A trial flawed by the participation of a judge who, under domestic statutes, should have been disqualified cannot normally be considered to be fair or impartial within the meaning of article 14. Mine is not a dissenting opinion; I merely want to clarify my view on the Committee’s reasoning in this case. Mr. Karttunen’s case concerns procedural requirements before an appellate court in criminal proceedings. The relevant provisions of the Covenant are laid out in article 14, firstly the general requirements for fair proceedings in paragraph 1, secondly the special guarantees in paragraph 3. Paragraph 1 applies to all stages of the judicial proceedings, be they before the court of first instance, the court of appeal, the Supreme Court, a general court of law or a special court. Paragraph 3 applies only to criminal proceedings and primarily to proceedings at first instance. The Committee’s jurisprudence, however, has found the requirements of paragraph 3 to be also applicable to review and appellate procedures in criminal cases, i.e. the rights to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence and to communicate with counsel of one’s own choosing (art. 14, para. 3(b)), to be tried without undue delay (art. 14, para. 3(c)), to have legal assistance assigned in any case where the interests of justice so require and without payment by the accused if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it (art. 14, para. 3(d)), to have free assistance of an interpreter if the accused cannot understand or speak the language used in court (art. 14, para. 3(f)), and finally the right not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt (art. 14, para. 3(g)). That all these provisions should, mutatis mutandis, also apply to review procedures is only normal, as they are emanations of a fair trial, which in general terms is required under article 14, paragraph 1. 7.3 It is possible for appellate instances to correct the irregularities of proceedings before lower court instances. In the present case, the Court of Appeal considered, on the basis of the written evidence, that the District Court’s verdict had not been influenced by the presence of lay judge V. S., while admitting that V. S. manifestly should have been disqualified. The Committee considers that the author was entitled to oral proceedings before the Court of Appeal. As the State party itself concedes, only this procedure would have enabled the Court to proceed with the re-evaluation of all the evidence submitted by the parties, and to determine whether the procedural flaw had indeed affected the verdict of the District Court. In the light of the above, the Committee concludes that there has been a violation of article 14, paragraph 1. 111