15
CASTELLS v. SPAIN JUDGMENT
The applicant also invoked both his right to be presumed innocent and
his right to adduce evidence capable of establishing the accuracy of his
statements. In so doing, he was formulating a complaint which was plainly
linked to the alleged violation of Article 10 (art. 10) of the Convention.
Indeed that was how the Constitutional Court construed the complaint; it
joined the question of the relevance of the evidence to that of the merits of
the case, namely the offence provided for in Article 161 of the Criminal
Code, whose compatibility with the freedom of expression it examined
(points 9 and 10 of the "As to the Law" part of the judgment of 10 April
1985; see paragraph 17 above).
31. The Court notes finally, like the Commission, that Mr Castells cited
Article 20 of the Constitution both in his notice of the amparo appeal, filed
in the Supreme Court, and in the suplico of his application of 22 November
1983 (see paragraphs 13 and 15 above). Subsequently, in a number of
written communications to the Constitutional Court, he also referred, in
connection with the defence of truth, to his right "to receive and
communicate true information" (see paragraph 16 above).
No doubt the reason why the appeal failed in this respect is to be found in
the limits which at the time the Constitutional Court set to its jurisdiction. In
its view, the problem of the admissibility of the defence of truth in relation
to the offence of insulting the Government raised a question of statutory
interpretation rather than an issue of compliance with the Constitution, and
the application of Article 161 of the Criminal Code in the case under review
was exclusively a matter for the ordinary courts (see paragraph 17 above;
and, mutatis mutandis, the Guzzardi v. Italy judgment, cited above, Series A
no. 39, p. 27, para. 72).
32. Accordingly, the Court considers that the applicant did invoke before
the Constitutional Court, "at least in substance", the complaints relating to
Article 10 (art. 10) of the Convention. The objection that Mr Castells failed
to exhaust domestic remedies must therefore be dismissed.
B. Merits of the complaint
33. In Mr Castells's submission, the criminal proceedings brought against
him, and his subsequent conviction for insulting the Government, interfered
with his freedom of expression, in particular because he was not allowed to
establish the truth of the statements contained in his article.
34. The restrictions and penalties of which he complained are undeniably
an "interference" with the exercise of the freedom in question. For such an
interference to avoid infringing Article 10 (art. 10), it must be "prescribed
by law", carried out in pursuit of one or more of the legitimate aims set out
in Article 10 para. 2 (art. 10-2) and "necessary in a democratic society" in
order to attain such an aim or aims.