335. According to the Human Rights Committee, the right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal can suffer no exception.773 It entails that the body entrusted with hearing a criminal case be established by law and present guarantees of independence from other branches of government, among others.774 336. Judicial independence encompasses independence of judicial institutions, as well as the individual independence of judges in carrying out their duties.775 It refers to the need for clear procedures and objective criteria, determined by law, for the appointment of judges, their security of tenure, and the conditions governing their promotion, transfer, suspension and cessation of functions.776 It also requires independence from political influence of the executive or legislative branches of government.777 International standards foresee that there should be no “inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial process”.778 337. The requirement of impartiality aims at ensuring that judges exercise their function without personal bias, prejudice, or preconceived views on the case or the parties before them, and do not improperly promote the interests of one side.779 Judges need also to act in a manner that offers sufficient guarantees to exclude legitimate doubt of their impartiality.780 International bodies and experts have stressed that a tribunal must appear impartial to a “reasonable observer”.781 Impartiality is not limited to the decision itself but also extends to the entire process that leads to this decision.782 In a similar vein, it is essential that jurors and prosecutors be able to carry out their duties independently and impartially, and be free from any interference.783 773 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 19. Ibid., paras. 18, 22. 775 UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Report to the General Assembly, A/68/285, op. cit., note 647, para. 44; “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct”, The Hague, 2002, <http://www.unrol.org/files/Bangalore_principles.pdf>, Principle 1; UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 19. 776 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, ibid., paras. 19-20; “Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary”, op. cit., note 771, Principle 11. 777 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, ibid., para. 19; “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct”, op. cit., note 775, Principle 1.3. See, also, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, Report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/11/41, 24 March 2009, para. 18, <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/11session/A.HRC.11.41_en.pdf>. 778 “Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary”, op. cit., note 771, Principles 2, 4. See, also, “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct”, ibid., Principle 1.1. 779 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 21; UN HRC, Arvo O. Karttunen v. Finland, Communication No. 387/1989, 23 October 1992, para. 7.2, <http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2FC%2F46%2FD%2F387%2F1989 &Lang=en>; “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct”, ibid., Principles 2.1, 2.5; UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Report to the General Assembly, A/68/285, op. cit., note 647, para. 44. 780 UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Report to the General Assembly, A/68/285, ibid.; “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct”, ibid., Principle 2.2; Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights, op. cit., note 658, p. 58. 781 UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 21; UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Report to the General Assembly, A/68/285, ibid., para. 44. 782 “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct”, op. cit., note 775, Principle 2. 783 UN HRC, Willard Collins v. Jamaica, Communication No. 240 /1987, 1 November 1991, para. 8.4, <http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=CCPR/C/43/D/240/1987>; UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, Report to the Commission on Human Rights, E/CN.4/2004/60, 31 December 2003, para. 48, <http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx?doc_id=9140>; UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, Report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/20/19, 7 June 2012, paras. 24-26, 55, 98, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session20/Pages/ListReports.aspx>; UN Special Rapporteur on the 774 147