The French association of journalists APJ filed a claim before the ECtHR against the French Intelligence Law (loi de renseignement), which permits large-scale surveillance, on the day the law came into effect. The claimants base their claim upon the theory of the "potential victim" (as used in the case SAS vs. France regarding the prohibition of the veil) holding that the mere existence of a law that authorizes the secret surveillance of communications represents a threat to all those to whom it might be applied (citing the ruling of the ECtHR in the Liberty case).