14 MORICE v. FRANCE JUDGMENT Consequently, Mr J.M. (see paragraph 27 above), who had become a judge at the Court of Cassation, assigned to the Criminal Division, and who was neither the Division President, nor the senior judge (doyen), nor the reporting judge, was not supposed to sit in that case. 53. In a judgment of 10 November 2009, the Court of Cassation, in a formation eventually consisting of ten judges, including Mr J.M., dismissed the appeals on points of law. As regards the grounds raised by the applicant, it found that the objection of jurisdictional immunity had been validly rejected, as the fact of making public the letter to the Minister of Justice did not constitute an act of referral to the CSM and was not part of any proceedings involving the exercise of defence rights before a court of law. As to the various arguments expounded under the applicant’s second ground of appeal, it took the view that the Court of Appeal had justified its decision, finding as follows: “[W]hile everyone has the right to freedom of expression and while the public has a legitimate interest in receiving information on criminal proceedings and on the functioning of the courts, the exercise of those freedoms carries with it duties and responsibilities and may be subject, as in the present case where the admissible limits of freedom of expression in criticising the action of judges have been overstepped, to such restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the reputation and rights of others.” II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW A. Applicable domestic law on defamation 54. The relevant provisions of the Freedom of the Press Act of 29 July 1881 read as follows. Section 23 “Anyone who, by uttering speeches, cries or threats in a public place or assembly, or by means of a written or printed text, drawing, engraving, painting, emblem, image, or any other written, spoken or pictorial item sold or distributed, offered for sale or exhibited in a public place or assembly, or by means of a placard or notice exhibited in a place where it can be seen by the public, has directly and successfully incited the perpetrator or perpetrators to commit a serious crime or major offence [crime ou délit], and if the incitement has been acted upon, shall be punished as an accessory to the said offence. This provision shall also be applicable where the incitement has been followed only by an attempt to commit a serious crime [crime] under Article 2 of the Criminal Code.” Section 29 “The making of any factual allegation or imputation that damages the honour or reputation of the person or body to whom the fact in question is attributed shall constitute defamation [diffamation]. The direct publication or reproduction of such an