Incheon City Bans Gatherings on Lawn in Front of Government Office... Constitutional Court Rules "Unconstitutional"

Loss of Effectiveness of the Ordinance Banning the Incheon Aetteul Rally

The Incheon city ordinance that uniformly banned assemblies and demonstrations in the square in front of City Hall has lost its effect due to a constitutional court ruling declaring it unconstitutional.

On the 26th, the Constitutional Court, with a unanimous decision by all justices, ruled Article 7, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5, Item (a) of the 'Ordinance on the Use and Management of Incheon Aetdeul' unconstitutional.

The Incheon Coalition for the Enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act held a performance in December 2019 at the Incheon Ae(愛)tteul Lawn Square in front of Incheon City Hall, urging the guarantee of freedom of assembly and demonstration within Incheon Ae Tteul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Incheon City, meaning to return the authoritative government office space to its citizens, removed the City Hall parking lot and fence and created the Incheon Aetdeul Plaza, fully opening it on November 1, 2019. The city ordinance stipulated that to use the plaza, one must obtain city approval, and if the purpose of use was 'assembly or demonstration,' it was absolutely prohibited.

The Incheon branch of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) and local civic groups filed a constitutional complaint in December of the same year, arguing that this provision excessively infringed on the freedom of assembly.

After about four years of deliberation, the Constitutional Court sided with the civic groups. The court stated, "Surrounded by a lawn yard with the Incheon Metropolitan City and City Council buildings located there, it is a place with great symbolism closely related to the purpose of holding assemblies to express opinions on local government administrative affairs," and added, "The freedom to choose the lawn yard as an assembly location should be fundamentally guaranteed."

Incheon City argued that because the lawn yard is close to the government office building, holding assemblies or demonstrations there would threaten the safety maintenance of the building. However, the Constitutional Court pointed out, "Since Incheon City itself decided to create an open space adjacent to the government office building, there is an unavoidable aspect." Furthermore, it added, "Incheon City can achieve the legislative purpose of maintaining the safety and function of the government office by preparing alternatives such as expanding security personnel, without completely restricting assemblies and demonstrations in the lawn yard."

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