14 GRA STIFTUNG GEGEN RASSISMUS UND ANTISEMITISMUS v. SWITZERLAND JUDGMENT 2. The Court’s assessment (a) Whether there was an interference 44. It is not in dispute between the parties that the domestic courts’ finding against the applicant organisation constituted an interference with its right to freedom of expression. Such interference will breach the Convention if it fails to satisfy the criteria set out in the second paragraph of Article 10. The Court must therefore determine whether the interference was “prescribed by law”, pursued one or more of the legitimate aims listed in that paragraph and was “necessary in a democratic society” in order to achieve the aim sought. (b) Whether it was prescribed by law 45. The applicant argued that Article 28 of the Swiss Civil Code had lacked foreseeability in view of its general lack of unspecific wording. According to the Government, the impugned measures had a sufficient legal basis in Swiss law. 46. The Court accepts that the interference in the present case was based on Article 28 of the Swiss Civil Code (see paragraph 14 above) and that that provision was accessible. The parties’ views, however, diverge on its foreseeability. The Court must thus examine whether the provisions in question fulfill the foreseeability requirements. 47. A norm cannot be regarded as a “law” unless it is formulated with sufficient precision to enable individuals to regulate their conduct: they must be able – if need be with appropriate advice – to foresee, to a degree that is reasonable in the circumstances, the consequences which a given action may entail. Those consequences need not be foreseeable with absolute certainty: experience shows this to be unattainable. Again, whilst certainty is highly desirable, it may entail excessive rigidity and the law must be able to keep pace with changing circumstances. Accordingly, many laws are inevitably couched in terms which, to a greater or lesser extent, are vague and whose interpretation and application are a question of practice (see Karácsony and Others v. Hungary [GC], no. 42461/13, § 124, ECHR 2016 (extracts), and Delfi AS v. Estonia [GC], no. 64569/09, § 121, ECHR 2015). 48. Turning to the present case, the Court finds no ambiguity in the content of the provisions of domestic law relied on by the national courts. As the Government submitted, the said provision has been in force since 1985 and the Federal Supreme Court has developed ample jurisprudence in relation to it. What is more, Article 28a of the Civil Code enumerates the possible measures that a court can take if it finds that there has been an unlawful infringement of an individual’s personality rights. While it is primarily for the national authorities, notably the courts, to interpret and apply domestic law (see, among other authorities, Centro Europa 7 S.r.l.

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