GRA STIFTUNG GEGEN RASSISMUS UND ANTISEMITISMUS v. SWITZERLAND JUDGMENT 9 THE LAW I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 10 OF THE CONVENTION 21. The applicant organisation complained that the domestic court’s finding of an infringement of B.K.’s personality rights had violated its right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed 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 ... impart information and ideas without interference by public authority ... 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 ... for the protection of the reputation or rights of others ...” A. Admissibility 22. The Government submitted that the applicant organisation had failed to exhaust the available domestic remedies as it had never expressly complained of a breach of its right to freedom of expression before the Federal Supreme Court. 23. The applicant organisation contested that argument. It had relied in its appeal to the Federal Supreme Court on its right to freedom of expression and reiterated that any interference with B.K.’s personality rights had been justified. Referring to its essential role as a public watchdog, the applicant organisation complained that the High Court’s decision had prevented it from fulfilling its task of informing the public according to its statutory purpose and its publicly acknowledged standing. In general, it had contended before the Federal Supreme Court that there had been a breach of its right to pursue its information activities and thus a violation of its right to freedom of expression. 24. The Court observes that the purpose of the rule on exhaustion of domestic remedies is to afford the Contracting States the opportunity of preventing or putting right the violations alleged against them before those allegations are submitted to it (see, among many other authorities, Selmouni v. France [GC], no. 25803/94, § 74, ECHR 1999-V, and Remli v. France, 23 April 1996, § 33, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-II). 25. The rule on exhaustion of domestic remedies must be applied with some degree of flexibility and without excessive formalism. At the same time, it requires, in principle, that the complaints intended to be made subsequently at international level should have been aired before those same courts, at least in substance and in compliance with the formal requirements and time-limits laid down in domestic law (see, among many other