46 MORICE v. FRANCE JUDGMENT indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb”. Similarly, the use of a “caustic tone” in comments aimed at a judge is not incompatible with the provisions of Article 10 of the Convention (see, for example, Gouveia Gomes Fernandes and Freitas e Costa, cited above, § 48). (d) The specific circumstances of the case (i) The need to take account of the overall background 162. The Court reiterates that, in the context of Article 10 of the Convention, it must take account of the circumstances and overall background against which the statements in question were made (see, among many other authorities, Lingens, cited above, § 40, and Bladet Tromsø and Stensaas v. Norway [GC], no. 21980/93, § 62, ECHR 1999-III). In the present case, the background can be explained not only by the conduct of the investigating judges and by the applicant’s relations with one of them, but also by the very specific history of the case, its inter-State dimension and its substantial media coverage. The Court would observe, however, that the Court of Appeal attributed an extensive scope to the impugned remark of the applicant criticising an investigating judge for “conduct which [was] completely at odds with the principles of impartiality and fairness”, finding that this was in itself a particularly defamatory accusation, tantamount to saying that there had been a breach of professional ethics and of the judicial oath on the part of that judge (see paragraph 47 above). That quotation should, however, have been assessed in the light of the specific circumstances of the case, especially as it was in reality not a statement made to the author of the article, but an extract from the letter sent by the applicant and his colleague, Mr L. de Caunes, to the Minister of Justice on 6 September 2000. In addition, at the time when the applicant answered his questions the journalist had already been informed of the letter to the Minister of Justice, not by the applicant himself, but by his own sources, as the Criminal Court acknowledged (see paragraph 40 above). The applicant further argued, without this being in dispute, that the article’s author was solely responsible for the reference to the disciplinary proceedings against Judge M. in the context of the “Scientology” case. In that connection, the Court reiterates that lawyers cannot be held responsible for everything appearing in an “interview” published by the press or for actions by the press. 163. The Court of Appeal was thus required to examine the impugned remarks with full consideration of both the background to the case and the content of the letter, taken as a whole. 164. For the same reasons, since the impugned remarks could not be assessed out of context, the Court cannot share the view of the Paris Court of Appeal that the use of the term “connivance” constituted “in itself” a