FRESSOZ AND ROIRE v. FRANCE JUDGMENT 14 “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.” it. The Government contested that submission; the Commission agreed with A. The Government's preliminary objection 33. As they had done before the Commission, the Government pleaded failure to exhaust domestic remedies. Mr Fressoz and Mr Roire had confined themselves to denying the charge of handling stolen goods that had been brought against them. At no stage, not even as an alternative submission, had they sought to argue that there was a contradiction between the charges on which they had been found guilty and the principle of freedom of expression. Thus, they had not complained, either expressly or in substance, of a breach of Article 10 of the Convention before the domestic courts even though they might have succeeded on that point of law, which had been admissible before the national courts. They had accordingly failed to afford the French courts an opportunity to decide whether the criminal proceedings that had been brought against them were compatible with the principle of freedom of expression. Consequently, domestic remedies had not been exhausted and the Court, consistent with its decision in the Ahmet Sadık v. Greece case (see the judgment of 15 November 1996, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-V, p. 1654, §§ 32-33), was unable to hear the case. 34. The applicants replied that they had raised in substance the complaint of a violation of Article 10 of the Convention before the Court of Cassation, as their pleadings before that court showed (see paragraph 23 above). After referring to the Act of 29 July 1881, which established the principle of freedom of the press, they had argued, firstly, that Mr Calvet's tax assessments were not confidential as they were available to the public and, secondly, that they could not in law be guilty of “handling information”. In any event, arguing that there had been a breach of Article 10 would not have prevented the ordinary rules of law governing the handling of stolen goods taking precedence over the protection of freedom of expression. 35. In its decision on the admissibility of the application, the Commission dismissed the objection on the ground that the applicants had