CASTELLS v. SPAIN JUDGMENT 8 criticism had exceeded the permissible limits of such criticism and attacked the Government's honour. It was therefore preferable to apply Article 162 of the Criminal Code, which provided for the offence of proffering less serious insults against the Government, rather than Article 161. On the question of the constitutional right to freedom of expression (Article 20 of the Constitution; see paragraph 19 below) there were limits to that right, in particular in relation to the right to honour and to a private life and the right to control use of one's likeness. Furthermore, the fact that the insult appeared in a press article suggested that it was the fruit of a more complicated intellectual process and a degree of reasoning which made it more clear and precise. Finally, the Supreme Court confirmed its decision of 19 May 1982 regarding the admissibility of the defence of truth. The applicant again indicated in the Supreme Court his intention of filing an appeal (amparo) against the judgment, relying inter alia on Articles 14, 20, 23 and 24 of the Constitution. He lodged his appeal on 22 November 1983. 14. On 6 December 1983 the Supreme Court, having regard to the circumstances of the case, stayed for two years the enforcement of the prison sentence (Article 93 of the Criminal Code), but left in place the accessory penalty. The enforcement of the latter measure was nevertheless stayed by the Constitutional Court on 22 February 1984. 3. The appeal (amparo) to the Constitutional Court 15. In his appeal (amparo) of 22 November 1983, Mr Castells complained that he had not been able to have the Supreme Court's judgment examined by a higher court and of the length of the proceedings. He maintained further that the court had violated the principle of the presumption of innocence by refusing to allow him to adduce evidence. He considered it contrary to the most elementary rules of justice to convict someone - and in this case a senator - for making statements which were accurate and sufficiently important for it to be necessary to bring them to the attention of the community as a matter of urgency and in detail, without having allowed him to establish their truth. He alleged, in addition, a breach of the principle of equality before the law (Article 14 of the Constitution), taken alone or in conjunction with the right to freedom of expression (Article 20), as other persons had published similar articles without encountering difficulties. Furthermore, he claimed that he had been the victim of a violation of his right to formulate political criticism, which he argued was inherent in Article 23 as it applied to him in his capacity as a senator. According to him, that provision, which guarantees the right to participate in public affairs, entitled him to carry out his parliamentary duties of scrutiny through any organ or means generally available.