30 CENTRUM FÖR RÄTTVISA v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT legislation permitting such measures, if the following conditions are satisfied. 91. Firstly, regard will be had to the scope of the legislation permitting secret surveillance measures through an examination of whether the applicant can possibly be affected by it, either because he or she belongs to a group of persons targeted by the contested legislation or because the legislation directly affects all users of communication services by instituting a system where any person can have his or her communications intercepted. 92. Secondly, the availability of remedies at the national level will be taken into account; the degree of scrutiny will depend on the effectiveness of such remedies. Where the domestic system does not afford an effective remedy to the person who suspects that he or she was subjected to secret surveillance, widespread suspicion and concern among the general public that secret surveillance powers are being abused cannot be said to be unjustified. In such circumstances, the menace of surveillance can be claimed in itself to restrict free communication through postal and telecommunication services, thereby constituting for all users or potential users a direct interference with the right guaranteed by Article 8. There is therefore a greater need for scrutiny by the Court and an exception to the rule, which denies individuals the right to challenge a law in abstracto, is justified. In such cases the individual does not need to demonstrate the existence of any risk that secret surveillance measures were actually applied to him or her. 93. By contrast, if the national system provides for effective remedies, a widespread suspicion of abuse is more difficult to justify. In such cases, the individual may claim to be a victim of a violation occasioned by the mere existence of secret measures or of legislation permitting secret measures only if he or she is able to show that, due to the specific personal situation, he or she is potentially at risk of being subjected to such measures. 94. The Court considers that the contested legislation on signals intelligence institutes a system of secret surveillance that potentially affects all users of, for example, mobile telephone services and the internet, without their being notified about the surveillance. Also, as concluded above (see paragraph 84), no domestic remedy provides detailed grounds in response to a complainant who suspects that he or she has had his communications intercepted. In these circumstances, the Court considers an examination of the relevant legislation in abstracto to be justified. 95. The applicant is therefore entitled to claim to be the victim of a violation of the Convention, even though it is unable to allege that it has been subjected to a concrete measure of interception. For the same reasons, the mere existence of the contested legislation amounts in itself to an interference with the exercise of the applicant’s rights under Article 8. The Court therefore dismisses the Government’s objection concerning the applicant’s lack of victim status.