8 EINARSSON v. ICELAND JUDGMENT defend himself. This was a violation of his rights under Article 8 of the Convention. (b) The Government 28. Firstly, the Government pointed out that the facts of the current case differed from cases concerning the media publishing information about individuals and therefore the Court’s principles in cases concerning the media could not be applied in the same way in the current case. Thus, for example, the criteria of the method of obtaining the information and its veracity did not apply in the present case. The information had been disseminated by one individual expressing a personal value judgment about the applicant and it had not been intended for the general public. 29. In the Government’s opinion, the domestic courts applied standards that were in conformity with the principles embodied in Article 8 of the Convention as interpreted in the Court’s case-law. The balancing test between the competing rights protected under Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention - was based on principles developed in the Court’s case-law. The domestic courts enjoyed a certain margin of appreciation in their assessment. The role of the Court should be in line with the principle of subsidiarity and the Court should only intervene where the domestic courts had considered irrelevant factors to be significant or where the conclusion reached had been clearly arbitrary or summarily dismissive of the interests at stake. The domestic courts were granted a wider margin in respect of positive obligations in relation to private parties where opinions within democratic society might differ significantly. 30. The Government noted that the domestic courts had analysed the material as a whole and concluded that the statement had been a value judgment. The topic, the justice system’s handling of sexual violence, was a debate of general interest and the applicant’s case had been high-profile. The applicant had been a well-known person in Iceland, with a clear incentive to maintain his place in popular culture, something he did by promoting his alter ego, often stirring up debates with controversial comments about women or minority groups. He had been aware that his methods were controversial and he had had long-standing public feuds with other well-known persons. He had made strongly-worded statements and declarations in the media while the investigation was ongoing. The material had been distributed by an ordinary person expressing a value judgment on a burning social topic at the time. 2. The Court’s assessment 31. The Court notes that the present case requires an examination of whether a fair balance has been struck between the applicant’s right to the protection of his private life under Article 8 of the Convention and the other