19 CASTELLS v. SPAIN JUDGMENT subject to the close scrutiny not only of the legislative and judicial authorities but also of the press and public opinion. Furthermore, the dominant position which the Government occupies makes it necessary for it to display restraint in resorting to criminal proceedings, particularly where other means are available for replying to the unjustified attacks and criticisms of its adversaries or the media. Nevertheless it remains open to the competent State authorities to adopt, in their capacity as guarantors of public order, measures, even of a criminal law nature, intended to react appropriately and without excess to defamatory accusations devoid of foundation or formulated in bad faith. 47. In this instance, Mr Castells offered on several occasions, before the Supreme Court and subsequently in the Constitutional Court, to establish that the facts recounted by him were true and well known; in his view, this deprived his statements of any insulting effect (see paragraphs 11 and 16 above). On 19 May 1982 the Supreme Court declared such evidence inadmissible on the ground that the defence of truth could not be pleaded in respect of insults directed at the institutions of the nation (see paragraphs 12 and 21 above); it confirmed this interpretation in its judgment of 31 October 1983 (see paragraph 13 above). The Constitutional Court took the view that it was a question of ordinary statutory interpretation and as such fell outside its jurisdiction (see paragraph 17 above). The applicant could not therefore, in the criminal proceedings brought against him under Article 161 of the Criminal Code, plead the defences of truth and good faith. 48. In the Government's contention, because Mr Castells's allegations were not sufficiently precise, their truth could not be demonstrated; in addition, they were to be regarded as value judgments, in relation to which the defence of truth was irrelevant. This argument is not convincing. The article which appeared in Punto y Hora de Euskalherria (see paragraph 7 above) must be considered as a whole. The applicant began by drawing up a long list of murders and attacks perpetrated in the Basque Country, then stressed that they had remained unpunished; he continued by alleging the involvement of various extremist organisations, which he named, and finally attributed to the Government the responsibility for the situation. In fact many of these assertions were susceptible to an attempt to establish their truth, just as Mr Castells could reasonably have tried to demonstrate his good faith. It is impossible to state what the outcome of the proceedings would have been had the Supreme Court admitted the evidence which the applicant sought to adduce; but the Court attaches decisive importance to the fact that it declared such evidence inadmissible for the offence in question (see paragraph 12 above). It considers that such an interference in the exercise of