Demonstrators will no longer be required to apply for a permit or give government authorities prior notice to stage protests, under amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) passed by the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee last week.
Amendments to transform the act and rename it as the assembly and parade protection act have been under review by the committee since March, with the final draft based substantially on language proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君), while preserving several key restrictions on demonstrators, including “forbidden zones” around government buildings and the police’s authority to disperse demonstrators.
Cheng’s version closely mirrored language proposed by civic groups such as the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, which in recent years have shifted from advocating the abolition of the act to seeking to transform it into a tool to protect protesters’ rights.
Following a 2014 Council of Grand Justices ruling that said the act’s permit requirements violated the constitutional guarantee of freedom of assembly, the draft bill passed by the committee would abolish permit provisions from the act and instead urge voluntary notification of public authorities.
Provisions added to the act obligate the police to protect and assist protesters regardless of whether they notify public authorities, including giving protest leaders the right to ask police to order away anyone impeding or interfering with the demonstration.
Previous provisions mandating special fines and prison terms for disobeying police orders to disperse were removed from the act, as were the provisions forbidding the advocacy of communism or “separatism.”
The draft bill also restricts police powers to restrict and disperse demonstrators, while not entirely removing related provisions as advocated by civil campaigners.
Provisions allowing police to order protesters to disperse for “illegal behavior” were replaced with a provision allowing for dispersal if protesters violate forbidden zones, put lives at risk, seriously damage property or cause traffic jams.
Restricted zones around government buildings are preserved, but are cut to between half and one-third of their former size.
Proposed amendments to zone restrictions and dispersal provisions by the committee have been temporarily “reserved” for further discussion in cross-caucus negotiations.
Protesters who purchase road rights are to have the right to exclude other demonstrators.
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