338. The requirement of publicity is essential to guarantee the open and transparent administration of justice. Criminal proceedings are, in principle, to be conducted orally and publicly.784 Courts are therefore to provide information and adequate facilities to allow interested members of the public, including the media, to attend oral hearings, “within reasonable limits, [and] taking into account, inter alia, the potential interest in the case”.785 However, this requirement of publicity is not necessarily applicable to all appellate proceedings or pre-trial decisions of prosecutors and other public authorities.786 339. The right to a public hearing is not an absolute right. In a democratic society, it can be limited in exceptional circumstances, and the public, including the media, may for instance be excluded from the trial, in part or for its entire duration, for reasons of public order or national security.787 Any such restriction to the right to a public hearing is to remain proportional and be assessed on a case-by-case basis.788 340. The right to a public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law is protected under international humanitarian law by virtue of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits the “passing of sentences (…) without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people”.789 The right to be tried by an independent and impartial court is also enshrined in Article 75(4) of API.790 b. Domestic Standards 341. In the United States, independence of the judiciary from other branches of government derives from Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution.791 The Fifth Amendment guarantees Independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, Interim report to the General Assembly, 10 August 2010, A/65/274, para. 18, <http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/65/274>; “Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors”, Havana, 7 September 1990, para. 4, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/RoleOfProsecutors.aspx>. 784 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 28; Novak, CCPR Commentary, op. cit., note 93, p. 324. 785 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, ibid., paras. 28-29; UN HRC, G. A. van Meurs v. The Netherlands, Communication No. 215/1986, 13 July 1990, para. 6.2, <http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2FC%2F39%2FD%2F215%2F1986 &Lang=en>; Novak, CCPR Commentary, ibid., pp. 324-325. 786 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, ibid., para. 28. 787 ICCPR, Art. 14(1); UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, ibid., para. 29; Novak, CCPR Commentary, op. cit., note 93, pp. 325326. 788 “The Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, Geneva, 28 September 1984, paras. 10-11, <http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G84/182/73/PDF/G8418273.pdf?OpenElement>; UN HRC General Comment No. 29, op. cit., note 111, para. 4; Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights, op. cit., note 658, p. 80. 789 Common Article 3(1)(d); ICTY, Prosecutor v. Blagoje Simić, Miroslav Tadić, and Simo Zarić, Case No. IT-95-9-T, 17 October 2003, para. 678, <http://www.icty.org/x/cases/simic/tjug/en/sim-tj031017e.pdf>. The Statutes of the ICC (Rome Statute), the ICTY, and the ICTR also specifically provide for the right to a public hearing, subject to narrow exceptions. Rome Statute, Arts. 64(7), 67(1), 68(2); Updated Statute of the ICTY, Art. 20(4); Statute of the ICTR, Art. 19(4). 790 API, Art. 75(4): “No sentence may be passed and no penalty may be executed on a person found guilty of a penal offence related to the armed conflict except pursuant to a conviction pronounced by an impartial and regularly constituted court respecting the generally recognized principles of regular judicial procedure”. 791 “The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office”. US Constitution, Art. 3, § 1. 148