[2020 National Audit] Park Jong-moon, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, "The Unconstitutionality of Assembly Bans and Police Barricades Should Be Viewed Differently"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Park Jong-moon, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, stated, "The unconstitutionality of assembly bans and whether police barricades infringe on the essential aspects of assemblies are different matters."

On the 8th, at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's Constitutional Court audit, Park said regarding the opinion that the risk of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is a reason for banning assemblies, "Assemblies are being held under certain conditions."

This is interpreted as meaning that whether police barricades infringe on the freedom of assembly and demonstration should be examined differently from the unconstitutionality of the assembly ban itself. Regarding the 2011 Seoul Plaza police barricade unconstitutionality ruling, Park explained, "The unconstitutionality decision was made by weighing the legal interests of both sides, considering the spatial and temporal characteristics such as whether the general public's right of passage was infringed."

The constitutionality review of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA), which is currently pending, also came under scrutiny. Shin Dong-geun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "The HCIA Act was proposed on July 15, but the illegal status has continued for three months," and asked, "When is the decision expected?"

Assembly member Song Ki-heon also said, "The HCIA Act case seems suitable for timely processing," and requested, "We hope the Constitutional Court will pay close attention."

Meanwhile, the People Power Party previously filed a constitutional complaint and a provisional injunction to suspend the effect of the HCIA Act in February and May, and has set a policy to decide whether to recommend committee members once the Constitutional Court's judgment is made.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.