32 MORICE v. FRANCE JUDGMENT available to him to rectify the shortcomings in question. The Government submitted that lawyers, as officers of the court, were thus obliged to use legal proceedings to correct any alleged errors; by contrast, harsh criticism in the press, where legal means could be used instead, was not justified by the requirements of the effective defence of the lawyer’s client and cast doubt on the probity of the justice system. 108. In the present case the Government took the view that there had been numerous possible judicial remedies open to the applicant for the effective defence of his client and that he had in fact made use of them. His statements in the media could therefore only have been for the purpose of informing the public about a subject of general interest, but, as they concerned an ongoing case, he should have spoken with moderation. 109. In examining the impugned remarks, the Government referred to the margin of appreciation afforded to States in such matters. The article in question concerned a particularly sensitive case which, from the outset, had received significant media coverage. In their view, it could be seen from the article in Le Monde that the offending remarks were aimed, unequivocally, at the two judges and were phrased in terms that impugned their honour. The applicant had not confined himself to a general criticism of the institutions but had expressed biased views, without the slightest prudence. In the Government’s submission, he had not made factual statements regarding the functioning of the judicial system, but rather value judgments that cast serious doubt on the investigating judges’ integrity. The Government stated that the domestic courts had carefully examined each of the statements in question to establish whether they went beyond the limits of acceptable criticism. They further submitted that the evidence produced by the applicant was devoid of probative value. 110. Concerning the applicant’s unsuccessful defence of good faith, based on the duties inherent in his responsibility to defend his client’s interests, the Government observed that the French courts had assessed good faith in the light of Article 10 of the Convention and the four criteria that had to be fulfilled concurrently: the legitimacy of the aim pursued, the absence of personal animosity, the seriousness of the investigation carried out or of the evidence obtained by the author of the comments and, lastly, the prudence shown in expressing them. The domestic courts had taken the view that those conditions had not been fulfilled in the present case and had regarded the applicant’s remarks as a settling of scores with a judge. The applicant was at fault not for expressing himself outside the courtroom, but for using excessive comments, whereas he could have expressed himself without impugning the honour of State officials. 111. The Government submitted that such attacks on judges did not contribute either to a clear public understanding of the issues, since the judicial authority had no right of reply, or to the proper conduct of the judicial proceedings in a context in which the investigating judge who was