INCAL JUDGMENT OF 9 JUNE 1998 16 B. Justification of the interference 40. Such interference breaches Article 10 except where it is “prescribed by law”, is directed towards one or more of the legitimate aims set out in Article 10 § 2 and is “necessary in a democratic society” to achieve the aim or aims concerned. 1. “Prescribed by law” 41. The participants in the proceedings all accepted that the interference was “prescribed by law”, as the applicant’s conviction had been based on Article 312 §§ 2 and 3 of the Criminal Code and additional section 4(1) of the Press Act (Law no. 5680) (see paragraphs 21 and 23 above). 2. Legitimate aim 42. The Court notes that no argument was presented on this point by the parties to the case. The Commission took the view that in applying Article 312 of the Criminal Code the Turkish courts’ aim in the present case had been to prevent disorder. The Court considers that Mr Incal’s conviction pursued at least one of the legitimate aims set out in Article 10, namely “the prevention of disorder”. 3. “Necessary in a democratic society” (a) Arguments of the participants (i) The applicant 43. The applicant submitted that in a pluralist democratic system political parties such as his ought to be able to express their views on the country’s social and political problems. The opinions expressed in the leaflet in issue were based on actual events and were limited to criticism of the discriminatory administrative and economic pressure brought to bear on citizens of Kurdish origin. The authors of the leaflet, of whom he was one, had never intended to advocate separatism and did not seek to foment disorder. Contrary to the findings of the judges at his trial, it was not a factual description of the situation in a country which provoked hatred and hostility but the fact that it was not possible for reactions to problems of general interest to be submitted to the public by the political parties. Mr Incal challenged the necessity of the interference and emphasised the fact that the leaflets in question had not been distributed. In any event, the penalty had been completely disproportionate, especially as his conviction had led to his being permanently debarred from the civil service and from