Chapter 4 • Independence and Impartiality of Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers convening officer also “had the power, albeit in prescribed circumstances, to dissolve the court martial either before or during the trial”.131 The European Court concluded that “in order to maintain confidence in the independence and impartiality of the court, appearances may be of importance”, and that, since “the members of the court martial ... were subordinate in rank to the convening officer and fell within his chain of command, Mr. Findlay’s doubts about the tribunal’s independence and impartiality could be objectively justified”.132 For the European Court of Human Rights it was also of importance that the convening officer was “confirming officer”, in that “the decision of the court martial was not effective until ratified by him, and he had the power to vary the sentence imposed as he saw fit”.133 In the view of the Court this competence was “... contrary to the well-established principle that the power to give a binding decision which may not be altered by a non-judicial authority is inherent in the very notion of ‘tribunal’ and can also be seen as a component of the ‘independence’ required by Article 6 § 1”.134 The fair trial or due process guarantees in international human rights law, including the condition of independence and impartiality of the Judiciary, apply with full force to military and other special courts or tribunals also when trying civilians. Under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, military tribunals shall under no circumstances try civilians, and special tribunals shall not deal with cases falling within the jurisdiction of ordinary courts of law. Although the Human Rights Committee has not, as such, held that trials of civilians by military courts would in all circumstances be unlawful under article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the clear trend is to recommend that the States parties transfer the competence of such courts in all cases concerning civilians to the ordinary courts of law. 131 Ibid., p. 282, para. 75. 132 Ibid., para. 76. 133 Ibid., para. 77. 134 Ibid., loc. cit. For similar cases, see e.g. Eur. Court HR, Case of Coyne v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 24 September 1997,Reports 1997-V, p. 1842 ff., and Eur. Court HR, Case of Cable and Others v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 18 February 1999; see http://www.echr.coe.int. 146 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers