CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 16 janvier 2018

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SLOVENIA   (Application no. 40975/08)                     JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   16 January 2018     FINAL   16/04/2018   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Čeferin v. Slovenia, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Ganna Yudkivska, President,   Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque,   Faris Vehabović,   Egidijus Kūris,   Iulia Motoc,   Georges Ravarani, judges,   Aleš Galič, ad hoc judge, and Marialena Tsirli, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 7 November 2017, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 40975/08) against the Republic of Slovenia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Slovenian national, Mr Peter Čeferin, on 20 August 2008. 2.     The applicant was represented before the Court by “Odvetniška družba Čeferin”, a law firm based in Grosuplje. The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs V. Klemenc, State Attorney. 3.     The applicant alleged, in particular, that the decisions to fine him in contempt of court proceedings had been in violation of Article 10 of the Convention and that the Constitutional Court’s decision in the second set of proceedings had lacked impartiality. 4.     On 6 September 2016 the above complaints were communicated to the Government and the remainder of the application was declared inadmissible pursuant to Rule 54 § 3 of the Rules of Court. 5.     Mr Marko Bošnjak, the judge elected in respect of Slovenia, was unable to sit in the case (Rule   28 of the Rules of Court). Accordingly, the President of the Fourth Section decided to appoint Mr Aleš Galič to sit as an ad hoc judge (Article   26   §   4 of the Convention and Rule   29   §   1). THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A.     Background 6 .     The applicant, a practising defence lawyer, represented ‒ initially before the Ljubljana District Court and subsequently before the appellate courts ‒ a defendant, I.P., who had been charged with three murders committed on 15 August 2002. The offence carried a thirty-year prison sentence. During the first-instance criminal proceedings, three certified sworn-in experts were appointed. A psychologist, J.R., and a psychiatrist, V.R., were asked to assess the accountability of the defendant and the probability that he had committed the criminal offences of which he had been accused. An expert in forensic medicine, J.B., was asked to prepare a report and testify, among other things, about the time of death of the victims, which was an important element in the accusation against the applicant’s client. In his written and oral submissions the applicant continuously protested his client’s innocence, pointing to what in his view was unreliable expert evidence, and requesting the exclusion of all evidence obtained by alleged violations of his client’s human rights. It would also appear that at some point in the proceedings the applicant asked to be given the results of a lie-detector test performed during the police investigation, but his request was refused. 7 .     At the final hearing held on 12 March 2004 V.R. replied to questions put by the applicant and the public prosecutor. Subsequently, the applicant requested that a new expert psychiatrist be appointed and that he should be assisted by a psychologist specialising in psychodiagnosis. Under the rules of the Criminal Procedure Act, a new expert witness should not be appointed unless there are contradictions or deficiencies in the available expert opinion or if reasonable doubt arises with regard to its correctness – the applicant therefore pointed out what he considered to be such deficiencies with respect to V.R. and J.R. In his oral submissions, the applicant argued that J.R. was known to be inclined towards psychodynamics which, in the applicant’s opinion, meant that “he was not familiar with top-level means of diagnosis, which were to be used in the process of psychosocial diagnosis”. He also stated that the psychodynamic psychotherapy used by the expert was not a scientific method and did not produce reliable data. The applicant further maintained in his speech that the results of the test used on his client were wholly contradictory and as such invalid. He gave examples from the expert opinion, such as its finding that the accused had little sense of reality but, at the same time, good general knowledge, and that while he was mentally rigid he was of above-average intelligence. The applicant continued by saying: “That this was just senseless extensive talking without any meaning, full of contradictions, is supported by the fact that the expert did not link his mental constructs with any concrete mental disorder, not least with the personality disorder in which he had proclaimed himself to be the expert.” 8.     The applicant then went on to say that none of the tests could lead to a finding of the narcissist characteristics mentioned by expert J.R. and that, in any case, narcissism was not part of the valid method of diagnosis. He then stated: “The opinions of both the psychiatrist and psychologist indicate the sad truth that in their professional weakness, both experts resorted to methods that did not form part of their professional practice. The psychiatrist used psychological methods which he absolutely did not understand and applied them only mechanically; the psychologist applied outdated psychological methods from the stone age of psychology and unscientific psychodynamic concepts and thereby failed to obtain any useful results, therefore he resorted to the field of medicine ...” 9 .     The applicant concluded by saying that the proposed new expert opinions would have proven that his client could not have committed the crimes with which he had been charged. 10.     The court rejected the applicant’s proposal to appoint new experts and concluded the evidence-taking procedure. 11 .     On 16 March 2004 the applicant’s client, I.P., was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to thirty years’ imprisonment. On 22 June 2004 the applicant lodged an appeal with the Ljubljana Higher Court. He supplemented it with further written submissions and on 16   December 2004 attended a session and a hearing before the court. The applicant argued, inter alia , that the date of the murder could not have been 15 August 2002 as established by expert, J.B. (see paragraph 6 above), which meant that his client could have not committed it; that the public prosecutor had not submitted the results of the lie-detector test which would have allegedly exculpated his client and the court had refused to obtain them from the Croatian authorities; and that his client had not been psychologically capable of committing the alleged crime. In his written and oral submissions before the Ljubljana Higher Court, the applicant strongly criticised the work of the experts, public prosecutor and the court and used a number of expressions which the Higher Court found amounted to contempt of court (see paragraph 19 below). B.     First set of contempt of court proceedings 12 .     On 19 March 2004 the Ljubljana District Court issued a decision, fining the applicant 150,000 Slovenian tolars (SIT – approximately 625   euros (EUR)) for contempt of court for his statements given at the hearing of 12   March 2004 regarding the expert witnesses, namely for making the following remarks, the translation of which has not been disputed by the parties: “senseless talking” ( neosmišljeno nakladanje ), “mental constructs” ( umotvori ), “professional weakness” ( strokovna šibkost ) of the experts and saying that “the psychiatrist used psychological methods which he absolutely did not understand” ( psihiater si je pomagal s psihološkimi metodami, ki jih absolutno ne razume ) and that “the psychologist [applied] outdated psychological methods from the stone age of psychology and unscientific psychodynamic concepts” ( psiholog z zastarelimi psihološkimi metodami iz kamene psihološke dobe ter neznanstvenim psihodinamskim konceptom ) (see paragraphs 7 to 9 above). The court took the view that the applicant had expressed insulting value judgments with regard to the expert witnesses’ professional qualifications. Moreover, it considered that the professional competence of certified experts approved by the Ministry of Justice was not open to doubt. As regards the level of the fine imposed on the applicant, the court noted that it reflected the nature and seriousness of the offensive statements and the fact that he was a lawyer with many years’ experience of representation in court proceedings. 13 .     The applicant appealed on 8 July 2004. He argued that he had not intended to insult anyone, and had only wanted to draw attention to the unacceptable way by which the opinions that could result in a potential thirty-year prison sentence had been prepared. He maintained that the impugned allegations were substantiated by the criticism expressed in the appeal. He pointed out that he did not have the required knowledge to substantiate the criticism but had been warned about the serious errors committed by the two experts by those from the “psychiatric and psychological profession”. According to the applicant, the courts had to reflect on their practice of punishing lawyers, which was used by some judges to “cover up” their own unprofessional and incompetent work. He alleged that the punishment of defence counsels often had a chilling effect and thereby interfered with freedom of expression. 14 .     On 3 February 2005 the Ljubljana Higher Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal as unfounded, finding that his remarks “constituted insulting value judgments which were damaging to the honour and reputation of both experts, since they expressed contempt and disrespect for the human dignity of other people and were as such unworthy of the profession practised by a lawyer”. The court considered that it was obliged to protect its authority and the personal dignity of other participants in the criminal proceedings and pointed out that the applicant could have expressed his criticism in a number of legally acceptable ways. It also held that punishing a defence counsel did not constitute a serious interference with the constitutional right of freedom of expression, nor did it limit the constitutional right of defence. The court concluded that the lower court’s decision was correct and did not restrict the rights of the defence “as alleged by the appellant who obviously, lacking any self-criticism, still maintains that the allegations laid against the experts were justified”. 15 .     On 31 March 2005 the applicant lodged a constitutional appeal, in which he complained of a violation of Article 10 of the Convention and Article 39 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. He argued that he had expressed the impugned opinions with the aim of providing the best possible defence to his client and that his punishment had not been necessary in a democratic society. Relying on the case of Nikula v.   Finland (no. 31611/96, ECHR 2002-II), he argued that the critical comments had been directed solely at the unprofessional and inadequate work of the experts and had not insulted the court in any way. His criticism of the two experts “was fully justified and based on scientific fact”. Furthermore, alternative less severe measures were available, such as a private prosecution for slander. 16 .     On 15 May 2008 the Constitutional Court dismissed the applicant’s constitutional complaint. The most relevant parts of its decision are as follows (as translated in the English version provided on the Constitutional Court’s website): “9. ... Certainly it has to be taken into account that the freedom of expression of a lawyer in his capacity as defence counsel in criminal proceedings serves the purpose of the defendant’s right to a defence ... The circumstance that a defence counsel in judicial proceedings exercises his right to freedom of expression because and only because he represents a client is of primary importance for the review of the admissibility of the interference with the right of a defence counsel determined in the first paragraph of Article 39 of the Constitution [freedom of expression], but this cannot entail that because of this circumstance the Constitutional Court would not review whether the courts’ decisions on punishing the defence counsel violated his right to freedom of expression. 10. In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 39 of the Constitution, freedom of ... expression [is] guaranteed. The ECHR protects the freedom of expression in the first paragraph of Article 10... ... 12. The duty of the courts in general and the court deciding on the merits of the case is to direct proceedings in such a manner so as to ensure the proper conduct of the parties and above all the fairness of the trial – rather than to examine in a subsequent trial the appropriateness of the party’s statements in the courtroom However, this does not entail that the defence counsel’s freedom of expression in criminal proceedings should be unlimited. Due to the fact that a defence counsel takes part in judicial proceedings and that his right to freedom of expression is intended for the protection of the rights of others, it is limited to a greater extent than the right to freedom of expression of any other individual in a public space may be limited. A defence counsel is namely limited by the fact that he participates in proceedings that are [formalised] and as such conducted in a rational manner, as well as by his professional ethics. A defence counsel may express strong and sharp criticism, however his argumentation in protecting the interests of his clients must remain within the range of reasonable argumentation, and there is no room for insults charged with emotion. It is understandable that in cases of defending a defendant charged with a grave criminal offence for which a severe penalty is prescribed, the tolerance threshold which may be allowed by the courts may be higher than in other cases , however, the defence counsel may not cross the outer boundaries of this tolerance. If he does cross them, it is proper that the court protects other values, i.e. confidence in the judiciary and the good reputation and authority of the judiciary, which ensures that the public respects the courts and has confidence that the courts are able to perform the role they have in a state governed by the rule of law. Protecting the authority of the judiciary includes the notion that the courts are the proper forum for the settlement of legal disputes and for the determination of a person’s guilt or innocence regarding a criminal charge, whereby it is important that the public at large have respect for and confidence in the courts’ capacity to fulfil that function. The above-mentioned is a constitutionally admissible reason to limit the defence counsel’s right to freedom of expression. The Constitutional Court has already [emphasised] in Decision No. U-I-145/03 that the institution of a punishment for insulting submissions is not the primary way to ensure the good reputation and authority of the judiciary, it is, however, an additional (and subordinate) tool which ensures the protection of the good reputation of the courts in situations in which confidence in the work of the judiciary is undermined by degrading criticism and [generalised], and from the viewpoint of the protection of rights in an individual case, unnecessary attacks on the work of the courts. 13. The complainant used the expressions mentioned in the first paragraph of the reasoning of this decision while defending a defendant who was charged with murder, for which the prescribed sentence is thirty years of imprisonment. The expressions entailed criticism of the expert witnesses who provided expert opinions in the criminal proceedings as permanently sworn-in experts. On the basis of [section] 248 of the Criminal Procedure Act, expert witnesses are engaged when the determination or assessment of a material fact call for the findings and opinion of a specialist possessing the necessary expertise for the task. The Constitutional Court in Decision No. U-I-132/95, dated 8 January 1998 (Official Gazette RS, No. 11/98 and OdlUS VII,1), [emphasised] that expert testimony is not only evidence, that is, a source for learning of relevant facts, but that an expert witness is an assistant to the court in exercising its function. The requirement that expert witnesses must be impartial follows from this, as otherwise parties to criminal proceedings would not be in an equal position. In view of the position that expert witnesses have as assistants to the courts in exercising their function, their authority must be protected in the same manner as the authority of the judiciary. This is a constitutionally admissible aim for which it was admissible to limit the complainant’s right to freedom of expression. Therefore, the Constitutional Court cannot accept the complainant’s view that a situation in which he directs insulting expressions towards the court is different than a situation in which such expressions are directed towards expert witness. 14. The courts’ assessment that the complainant expressed contemptuous criticism towards the expert witnesses is supported by reasons and is not unsound. The complainant did not merely express sharp criticism of the expert opinions, but his insulting remarks entailed personal disparagement of the expert witnesses as experts. The expressed contemptuous criticism is beyond the reasonable argumentation by which the defence counsel could justify his motion that new expert witnesses be called. Therefore, it cannot be accepted that such criticism could be justified for the purpose of exercising the defendant’s right to a defence as determined in Article 29 of the Constitution. Contemptuous criticism of an expert witness as a person who has been called to provide an expert opinion could even threaten a fair trial in criminal proceedings. The Constitutional Court has already [emphasised] in Decision No. U-I-145/03 that it is of exceptional importance that parties to proceedings [realise] that insulting sharp speech before the court does not prove that the defence counsel has provided quality representation. The quality defence provided by a defence counsel can also not be based on expressing contemptuous criticism which shows contempt for expert witnesses, instead, the defence must be directed towards a criticism of their opinions provided in the individual proceedings, and supported by arguments and reason. Therefore, it cannot be expected from the courts that they should, within the boundaries of tolerance, also allow insults for which the courts reasonably assessed that they showed contempt for the expert witnesses in their capacity as expert assistants to the court. Therefore, the interference with the complainant’s right to freedom of expression which the court made by punishing the defence counsel for the expressed insults with a fine, is not disproportional. 15. ...The Constitutional Court did not have to address the question whether by using the above-mentioned expressions the complainant had fulfilled all the statutorily determined elements of the criminal offence determined in Article 169 of the Penal Code, as this was not the subject of the challenged judicial decisions. ... In Decision No. 145/03, the Constitutional Court already [emphasised] that the possibility of independent criminal protection is not an appropriate substitute and cannot serve the purpose for which the legislature enacted the possibility that insulting submissions be punished. The Constitutional Court reiterates that the protection which the legislature defined in the first paragraph of [section] 78 of the Criminal Procedure Act is not intended to protect individual expert witnesses but to protect the good reputation and authority of the judiciary as a whole. The reasons why also the good reputation and authority of expert witnesses as impartial assistants to courts is a part of the protected value has been outlined in paragraph 13 of the reasoning of this decision. 16. ...Therefore, the constitutional complaint is not substantiated and the Constitutional Court had to dismiss it.” 17 .     The Constitutional Court reached the above decision by six votes to one. Judge J.Z. wrote a separate concurring opinion. Judge C.R., who voted against, wrote an extensive dissenting opinion. He argued that the applicant’s conduct had been judged too harshly by the majority, who had not approached the case correctly. In particular, the Constitutional Court had supported the finding of no violation by the fact that the impugned statements had been given during court proceedings, although ‒ in his view ‒ this should have weighed in favour of the applicant. Furthermore, proper attention had not been given in the reasoning to the nature of the proceedings, which had been criminal not civil, the target, which had been the experts and not the court, and the seriousness of the criminal offence the client had been risking – an offence carrying a potential thirty-year prison sentence. In this connection, the dissenting judge argued that the Constitutional Court should have taken account of the principles arising in Kyprianou v. Cyprus ([GC], no. 73797/01, ECHR 2005-XIII), especially those relating to the role of defence lawyers in criminal trials. He pointed out that a public prosecutor could not be fined for contempt of court and that less invasive measures were available to the court which were applicable to both defence lawyers and public prosecutors. In his opinion, such measures might constitute interruption of the speech in question, a formal warning, and the informing of the appropriate professional association or body. Lastly, he pointed to the danger that the decision in the present case might have a discouraging effect on other defence lawyers, particularly given that the penalising of expressions such as “professional weakness” had been considered justified by the Constitutional Court. 18.     According to a letter by the Ljubljana District Court of 30   March   2017, prepared for the purposes of the present proceedings, the applicant paid the first fine (see paragraph 12 above) on 1 April 2005. C.     Second set of contempt of court proceedings 19 .     On 3 February 2005 the Ljubljana Higher Court issued a decision fining the applicant SIT 400,000 (approximately EUR 1,670) for contempt of court for his statements in the appeal proceedings regarding the expert witnesses, the State Prosecutor and the first-instance court (see paragraph 11 above). The court found that the following remarks of the applicant, the translation of which has not been disputed by the parties, amounted to contempt of court (taken from the decision): “As regards the State Prosecutor: ‘... it can be concluded that someone – a person who was aware of the exculpatory nature of this documentation for the defendant – hid this documentation ...’ ‘... it is permissible for a prosecutor to hide crucial evidence which could release the defendant from his liability ... As regards the expert psychologist ... [J.R.] ... : ‘... he had intentionally overlooked any information pointing to another possibility...’ ‘... on the other hand, I, as a layman, consider this to be a reflection of possible narcissism on the part of the expert himself ...’ As regards the forensic expert psychiatrist ... [V.R] ... : ‘... from the perspective of forensic ethics, by which the forensic expert is bound, such a way of working represents an intentional violation of those ethics, giving statements without any scientifically based value ...’ ‘... could be seen from the qualified (ab)use ( (zlo)rabe ) of the experiments, which the expert ...’ ‘... as he cannot have the slightest idea ( ne more imeti najmanjšega pojma ) as to how far normality extends and when pathology starts ...’ ‘... commenting on or describing handwriting analysis amounts to quackery ( je na nivoju šarlatanstva ) ...’ ‘... the psychiatrist either does not know all this or he is narcissistically ignoring it ...’ ‘... in this case we can talk of a typical abuse of a test, most likely a pirate version. In view of the fact that this abuse of the test took place in proceedings before a court – a judicial institution – this is almost grotesque ...’ ‘... the conclusion is almost dilettantish ...’ ‘... The expert did not show the slightest scientific doubt ( niti trohe prisotnosti znanstvenega dvoma ), but instead focused all his energy on defending his own infallibility, which is extremely inappropriate for any expert, and for one who is “accepting” the expert skills ( “sprejemnika”izvedenske veščine ) it is dangerous ...’   As regards the forensic expert ... [J.B.], the head of the forensic medicine institute: ‘... and when such negligence ( malomarnost ) by experts in preparing their opinions, resulting in a [thirty]-year prison sentence, justifiably upsets me ...’ ‘... that the negligence ( šlamparija ) of this expert is immense ...’ As regards the court: ‘... the judicial farce referred to is of course not over ...’” Of the above, the second of the statements referring to the public prosecutor and the statements referring to expert J.B. were expressed orally at the Ljubljana Higher Court’s session; the remainder were given in writing. 20 .     In providing its reasoning for the decision, the Ljubljana Higher Court found that the applicant had expressed insulting value judgments which had shown contempt for the participants in the proceedings and the court and had had nothing to do with freedom of expression. The court also noted that the applicant had previously been offensive within the same set of proceedings and that therefore, even from a subjective perspective, the offensive statements had to have been made intentionally. As regards the level of the fine imposed on the applicant, the court noted that it reflected the nature and seriousness of the offensive statements, the fact that he was a lawyer with many years’ experience of representation in court proceedings and the fact that he had previously made similar offensive statements during the first-instance proceedings. Lastly, the court decided to inform the Bar Association of the outcome of the proceedings. 21 .     The applicant appealed against this decision on 17 March 2005. He argued that his statements had not been offensive, given their context. As regards the criticism expressed against the public prosecutor and the court, he referred to the arguments of the defence concerning the undisclosed results of the lie-detector test. Among other things, he stated that “such a way of evidence taking [was] mystic and [had] no connection with the modern trial”. As regards expert J.R., the applicant stated that he had “directed all his intellectual abilities at defending his unprofessional opinion”. The applicant further referred to the objections made by the defence, which had allegedly been ignored by J.R., and stated that he, “as a layman, [could not] consider such conduct to be anything else than a reflection of possible narcissism on the part of the expert himself”. Regarding the criticism of expert V.R., the applicant referred to the examination of this expert during the trial, to the statements he had given and which, in the applicant’s view, showed that V.R. had been using methods which had not been within his competence, and had claimed to have been using a particular test “without ever seeing the original ... in his life”. The applicant also argued that V.R. had not shown “the slightest scientific doubt but had focused all his energy on defending his own infallibility”. As to expert J.B., the applicant stressed that his comments had related to J.B.’s assessment of the time of death – the air temperature at the time of the victims’ death had been an important, but disregarded, factor. In the applicant’s opinion, the assessment of the time of death had been done carelessly by J.B., who had kept changing his mind on the issue. The applicant pointed out that the time of death had been a crucial element in the trial and could have led to an acquittal if assessed properly. He concluded that “such expert opinions [were] a catastrophe for the Slovenian judiciary and very dangerous for its citizens”. 22 .     On 19 January 2006 the Supreme Court ‒ sitting as a panel of five judges, one of whom was B.Z. ‒ dismissed the applicant’s appeal. The Supreme Court noted that the courts were under obligation to protect their authority and the dignity of the participants in the proceedings. While section 78 of the Criminal Procedure Act provided for disciplinary sanctions, it could not be interpreted as allowing sanctioning of every inappropriate expression. Instead, the courts were called to take into account all the circumstances and decide whether, on balance, the insult had been such as to require a disciplinary sanction. The Supreme Court stressed that the courts had to show particular restraint and caution in deciding on a disciplinary sanction against a defence counsel, because in such cases not only was his or her right to freedom of expression at stake but also his or her role in defending the accused person in criminal proceedings. It noted that a defence counsel might, therefore, be critical of the State prosecutor and other participants in the proceedings, including the court, but even this rule did not apply in absolute terms. If a defence counsel conducted his defence in criminal proceedings by insulting or humiliating other participants, by accusing them of personal dishonesty or bias or of lacking the essential professional capacities, personal qualities or similar, or if he or she was also insulting to the court, his or her conduct was deemed unacceptable and therefore had to be subject to a sanction by a fine pursuant to section 78 of the Criminal Procedure Act. The Supreme Court concurred with the Higher Court that the case at hand involved insulting value judgments and expressions of contempt and disrespect for other participants in the proceedings and the court. The Supreme Court referred to the applicant’s statements and examined their semantic meanings and upheld the view that he “had expressed contempt for the court experts, not only regarding their professional abilities but also by attributing to them negative personal characteristics, thereby expressing insulting value judgments”. The Supreme Court also pointed out that the applicant had had the right to challenge the correctness of the court’s procedural decisions, but should have done so in a legally acceptable manner. The Supreme Court also found that the Higher Court had provided reasonable grounds for the amount of the fine imposed. 23 .     On 16 March 2006 the applicant lodged a constitutional appeal in which he complained of a violation of Article 10 of the Convention and Article 39 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. He argued that his criticism had been essentially directed against the experts and the public prosecutor and not against the court. Although the participants in question might have preferred not to hear his opinion, he had had to express it for the benefit of the defendant. In the applicant’s view, the court had to take into account the importance of freedom of expression in the process of a criminal trial, which was one of the most important mechanisms of State repression. He also argued that he had expressed acceptable criticism which, though presented in a slightly illustrative manner, had not been insulting to the experts but instead had challenged the credibility of their opinions. He argued that he had expressed the impugned opinions with the aim of providing the best possible defence to his client and that his punishment had not been necessary in a democratic society. Relying on Nikula (cited above), he argued that the critical comments had been directed solely at the unprofessional and inappropriate work of the experts and had not insulted the court in any way. 24 .     On 31 March 2008, at an administrative session, the Constitutional Court decided that Judge J.Z. (who was not present) would not sit it the cases concerning the Supreme Court’s decisions in which he had taken part, or those in which his wife, Judge B.Z., had taken part. 25 .     On 2 April 2008 an order was issued by the secretary general of the Constitutional Court for Judge J.Z.’s removal from the “consideration and decision-making” in the applicant’s case. 26 .     On 3 December 2008 a panel of three judges of the Constitutional Court issued a decision refusing to accept the applicant’s constitutional complaint for consideration on the merits as, in its view, it did not meet the criteria set out in paragraph 2 of section 55b of the Constitutional Court Act. Two judges, Judge E.P. and Judge J.P., voted in favour of the dismissal while Judge C.R. voted against it. It was also noted that as the panel had not been unanimous, the decision had been submitted to the remaining Constitutional Court judges pursuant to section 55c of the Constitutional Court Act. However, as the three votes in favour of examination had nevertheless not been obtained, the constitutional complaint was rejected. 27 .     On 5 December 2016 the Constitutional Court sent to the applicant a corrigendum of its decision of 3 December 2008, noting that Judge J.Z. had not been submitted a decision as he had withdrawn from the case. The explanation to the corrigendum noted that after being requested by the State Attorney to send information for the purposes of the proceedings before this Court, the Constitutional Court upon looking into the file had discovered a clerical error, namely the omission to indicate in the decision sent to the applicant that Judge J.Z. had not taken part in the proceedings in question. 28 .     According to a letter by the Ljubljana District Court of 30   March   2017, prepared for the purposes of the present proceedings, there was no record of the applicant having paid the second fine of SIT 400,000 (equal to approximately EUR 1,670 – see paragraph 19 above). II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW 29 .     The Criminal Procedure Act lays down the following rule in relation to penalties for contempt of court: Section 78 “(1) The court shall impose a fine on the defence counsel, lawyer, legal representative, injured party, private prosecutor or injured party acting as a prosecutor if in their submissions, or in spoken comments, they insult the court or any participant in the proceedings. The fine shall be between a minimum of one fifth of the last officially announced average net monthly salary in the Republic of Slovenia per employee and a maximum of three times that salary. The ruling on the fine shall be given by the investigating judge or the panel before which the abusive statement was made; if the insult was in a submission, the ruling on the fine shall be given by the court with which the submission was filed. An appeal shall be permitted against such ruling. Any insult expressed by a public prosecutor or a person deputising for him shall be reported to the competent public prosecutor. The imposition of a fine on a lawyer or [a trainee] shall be reported to the Bar. (2) The punishment referred to in the preceding paragraph shall have no effect on the prosecution or the imposition of criminal sanctions for a criminal offence committed by insult.” 30 .     Paragraph 2 of section 55b of the Constitutional Court Act provides as follows: “(2) A constitutional complaint shall be accepted for consideration: - if there is a violation of human rights or fundamental freedoms which had serious consequences for the complainant; or - if it concerns an important constitutional question which exceeds the importance of the particular case in question.” 31 .     Section 55c of the Constitutional Court Act provides, in so far as relevant, as follows: “(1) The panel shall decide on the rejection or acceptance of the constitutional complaint unanimously by an order. ... (3) If the panel is not unanimous with regard to whether or not the conditions referred to in the second paragraph of section 55b are fulfilled, the constitutional complaint shall be accepted for consideration if any three Constitutional Court judges decide in favour of acceptance within [fifteen] days. (4) If the panel does not decide otherwise, the statement of reasons justifying a decision ordering the rejection or non-acceptance of the constitutional complaint shall include only a reason referred to in the first or second paragraphs of the preceding section of this Act and the composition of the Constitutional Court.” THE LAW I.     ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 10 OF THE CONVENTION 32.     The applicant complained that the decisions to fine him for contempt of court had violated his right to freedom of expression as provided for in Article 10 of the Convention, which reads 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. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 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.” A.     Admissibility 33.     The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible. B.     Merits 1.     The parties’ arguments (a)     The applicant 34 .     The applicant argued that his impugned statements had remained within the limits of acceptable criticism. In his view, the domestic decisions had fallen short of respecting the Convention standards. In particular, the courts had failed to take account of the context in which the remarks had been made. They had not had sufficient regard to the fact that he had been defending his client, who had been risking the most severe criminal sentence, that the remarks had been made in the courtroom and not in public, that they had sufficient basis in fact, namely in his extensive submissions pointing out the deficiencies in the expert opinions and the actions of the public prosecutor and the court regarding non-disclosure of the lie-detector test results, that they had focused on the experts’ work in the actual proceedings and their obligation of diligence and impartiality, that they had aimed at undermining the credibility of the expert opinions, which had been important incriminating evidence, and had supported his request for the appointment of new expert witnesses. 35 .     The applicant also argued that the courts had failed to consider other less severe measures, such as a warning, interruption of the speech in question or the informing of the Bar Association. The expert witnesses could have pursued a private prosecution or civil action for defamation and therefore there was no need for the court to act of its own motion. In addition, the applicant submitted that section 78(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act applied only to defence counsel not prosecutors and therefore had treated the two parties unequally which was incompatible with the concept of democratic society enshrined in Article 10 § 2. 36 .     The applicant disputed the Government’s suggestion that the expert witnesses’ position could be compared to that of the courts. He was particularly critical of domestic court’s opinion that, since the certified experts had been approved by the Ministry of Justice, their competencies were not open to doubt. In this connection, the applicant argued that the experts had not exercised a judicial function themselves and their opinions counted as evidence. Therefore, the limits of acceptable criticism directed at expert witnesses should be – as was the case with the criticism of public prosecutors – wider. 37 .     The applicant also argued that the courts had failed to explain why the minimum fine provided by law would not have sufficed. The fines imposed on him were of a serious nature. The first fine reached the average net salary in Slovenia and the second amounted to more than twice that much. In addition, the sanctioning of the applicant had also had damaged his reputation, and had had a chilling effect, which was ignored by the domestic courts. 38 .     Lastly, the applicant argued that it had been up to him to decide which defence strategy to use and what statements would have best benefited his client’s defence. He pointed out that the impugned statements had been made in the courtroom and, as they had been made in the defence of his client’s rights, they could not, under domestic law, have been subject to criminal prosecution. It was therefore unacceptable that they had amounted to contempt of court and resulted in fines. (b)     The Government 39 .     The Government did not contest the translation of the impugned remarks provided in the Statement of facts. They did, however, argue that the domestic courts had applied the Convention standards when deciding the applicant’s case and that his insulting value judgments directed at the public prosecutor and the court and those referring to the general and even personal qualities of expert witnesses had gone beyond acceptable criticism. As such, the impugned statements could have not advanced the defence of the applicant’s client. 40 .     The Government also argued that the court had to take into account the fact that the public officials, such as judges and public prosecutors, must enjoy the confidence of the public if they are to perform their job efficiently. This requirement should apply also to certified experts who do not act as opponents to the defendants but as assistants to the court and are expected to be impartial. 41 .     The Government further argued that even if someone took the view that the critique of the public prosecutor had been limited to his performance of duties in relation to the applicant’s client, the large majority of the impugned statements had been insults directed against experts. 42 .     As regards the applicant’s argument that section 78(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act applied only to defence counsel not the prosecutor, which was put forward in his application form, the Government argued that the applicant had failed to raise it before the domestic courts. 43 .     The Government argued that most of the impugned statements had been expressed in writing and therefore an interruption or a warning by the court had not been an option. Moreover, the fact that the applicant had made and/or had repeated the statements in writing, and therefore after prior deliberation, weighed heavily against him. The Government also maintained that the monetary fine was not excessive. In any event, the applicant was precluded from raising the argument concerning the alleged excessive penalty as he had not invoked it in the domestic proceedings, or in his application, but had raised it for the first time in his observations before the Court. 2.     The Court’s assessment 44 .     The Court reiterates that Article 10 is applicable not only to “information” or “ideas” that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb (see, for example, Mouvement   raëlien   suisse   v.   Switzerland [GC], no. 16354/06, § 48, 13 July 2012). Furthermore, freedom of expression protects not only the substance of the ideas and information expressed but also the form in which they are conveyed (see, for example, Kyprianou v. Cyprus [GC], no. 73797/01, § 174, ECHR 2005-XIII). 45.     It is not disputed between the parties – and the Court sees no reason to hold otherwise – that the fines imposed on the applicant for contempt of court amounted to an interference with his freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 10 § 1 of the Convention. 46.     The Court notes that freedom of expression is subject to the exceptions set out in Article 10 § 2 of the Convention. It observes that the interference with the applicant’s freedom of expression was based on sect