By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
The Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the current law banning nighttime rallies violates the spirit of the nation's basic law.
In a 7-to-2 ruling, the court asked the National Assembly to revise the law prohibiting rallies after sunset by next June. The clause on the ban will be automatically scrapped unless revised by the deadline.
The court, however, stated that the current law will be valid until the end of June, giving the National Assembly time to revise it. Article 10 in the law requires prior police permission in order to hold after-sunset outdoor protests legally.
Offenders face a fine of up to 1 million won or a one-year prison term.
In the ruling, the consenting judges said, "Article 10 goes against the spirit of the Constitution."
Ahn Jin-geol, a member of the "People's Conference against Mad Cow Disease," was convicted for holding an unlawful nighttime protest last October.
Tens of thousands of protestors rallied against the government's decision in April to resume imports of American beef.
The rallies went on for months, night and day, led by nongovernmental organizations. At one point, there were calls for the resignation of President Lee Myung-bak, with the rallies often turning into confrontations between protesters and riot police.
Presiding Judge Park Jae-yong took up Ahn's claim that the law was unconstitutional and filed for a judgment by the Constitutional Court.
"The Constitution guarantees the freedom of assembly and association, but the Law on Assembly and Demonstration is aimed at bringing that basic right under control by regulating nocturnal rallies," Park said.
Some 150 cases of the violation of this law are pending at the Seoul Central District Court alone, and the ruling will affect the verdicts of these cases.
A police officer said, "It should be borne in mind that this law is still valid until it goes through a revision."
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
