ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 115 familiar with the relevant law and procedure) during the ensuing criminal proceedings. 692. In conclusion, the Government contended that the applicants' complaints under Article 8 and under with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 were wholly unfounded. B. The Court's assessment 693. The Court notes that, on their apprehension, the applicants' homes and/or offices were searched and documentation seized in some instances. No search warrants were produced by the security forces and no details were given to the applicants of what was being sought. Anything remotely connected with Kurdish matters or the PKK was taken, as were certain client case files which should have been subject to professional confidentiality and privilege. 694. The parties disputed whether certain incriminating documents, such as receipts bearing the stamp of the “ERNK” (the political wing of the PKK) were found on some of the applicants. In particular, the Government were unable to produce any original document signed by Mr Elçi acknowledging his possession of such a document. Other applicants disputed their willingness to sign similar acknowledgements. Most alleged that their signatures had been extracted towards the end of the detention period whilst they were blindfolded and after having been tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading manner. 695. Mr Elçi also denied that his client files concerning his Commission work had ever been returned to him at a later date. However, the Court is satisfied on the evidence that these files were probably returned to his legal representative before the State Security Court, Mr Dinler (see paragraph 537 above). 696. The Court will first examine the applicants' complaints under Artice 8 of the Convention. The Court finds that the search of the houses of five of the applicants and, in certain cases, the seizure of personal documents and other items constituted an interference with the applicants' right to respect for their homes and correspondence. The Court likewise finds that the search of the professional offices of Tahir Elçi and Nevzat Kaya, and the seizure of files there, amounted to an interference with their right to respect for their “homes” and “correspondence”, as those terms have been interpreted in the Court's case-law (see the Niemietz v. Germany judgment of 16 December 1992, Series A, no. 251-B, § 30). 697. The question remains whether the interferences were justified under paragraph 2 of Article 8 and, more particularly, whether the measures were “in accordance with the law” for the purposes of that paragraph. In this regard the Court recalls its finding above that the applicants' apprehension and detention by the gendarmerie had failed to follow a procedure