CASTELLS v. SPAIN JUDGMENT
13
AS TO THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 10 (art. 10)
23. Mr Castells claimed to be a victim of a violation of his right to
freedom of expression as guaranteed under Article 10 (art. 10) of the
Convention, which is worded as follows:
"1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include
freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without
interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. ...
2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities,
may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are
prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of
national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or
crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or
rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or
for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary."
The Government contested this assertion, whereas the Commission
agreed with it.
A. The Government's preliminary objection
24. The Government contended, as they had done before the
Commission, that the applicant had failed to exhaust his domestic remedies
(Article 26 of the Convention) (art. 26). Probably "for tactical reasons", he
had not specifically raised in the Constitutional Court the complaint
concerning the alleged breach of the right to freedom of expression
protected under Article 20 of the Constitution. In his amparo appeal he had
referred to this provision only indirectly, complaining of discrimination in
the exercise of that freedom; in addition, he had made no mention of Article
10 (art. 10) of the Convention or of similar provisions in other international
instruments. According to the Institutional Act governing the amparo appeal
procedure (no. 2/1979), he ought to have indicated clearly both the facts and
the provisions allegedly infringed. It followed that Mr Castells had not
given the Constitutional Court the opportunity to rule on the question which
was now before the Court.
25. In reply the applicant maintained that he had expressly invoked
Article 20 of the Constitution in the Constitutional Court. In the first place
the facts set out in his amparo application established that what was at stake
was a typical example of the exercise of the right to freedom of expression
and showed evidently that there had been an interference. Furthermore, in
the suplico he had cited, among other provisions, the article in question and
in the legal argument he had alleged a violation of Article 20, taken together