The Council of Grand Justices said yesterday that Article 2 of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), which stated that civic groups or gatherings should not advocate communism or national disunity, violates the Constitution and should be scrapped immediately.
The council ruled that the regulation authorized government agencies to attack civic groups based on the political stances of private individuals and that this violated the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and association.
The Article is therefore invalid, the council said.
REQUEST
Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), former chairman of the Goa-Seng-Lang Association for Taiwan Independence (GATI, 外省人獨立促進會) had requested the constitutional interpretation.
Established by a few Mainlander pro-independence activists in 1992, GATI applied to Taipei City’s Bureau of Social Affairs for registration as a local civic organization in 1998.
TAIPEI CITY
The Taipei City Government rejected Chen’s application, saying that the proposed organization violated Article 2 of the law because it advocated Taiwanese independence from China.
The justices ruled yesterday that political stances could not be a basis for encroaching on freedom of association.
Connie Lin (林育卉), a member of the association, welcomed the ruling yesterday and said it showed that Taipei City under then-mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had been wrong to bar Chen’s organization.
Chen was not available for comment as he is in the US and will not return until September.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-feng
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