The High Court earlier this month overturned a ruling ordering a man to pay NT$4,000 to a woman he called “ugly,” saying that the insult would not harm the plaintiff, as the man is not an authority on aesthetics.
The incident occurred at a Taipei department store in June 2021 during an argument between two clerks at neighboring shops.
A merchant surnamed Cheng (鄭) later sued the other merchant, surnamed Lee (李), for calling her an “ugly woman,” citing Article 309 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits public insult.
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
In the first ruling, the Taipei District Court ordered Lee to pay Cheng NT$4,000, as his comment “disrespected [Cheng’s] reputation and interests.”
Lee appealed to the High Court, which on Feb. 8 overturned the earlier ruling.
Calling someone ugly is an expression of personal aesthetic opinion and cannot be judged according to a standard, the court said.
It further cited the psychological concepts of “aesthetic fluency” and the “pleasure-interest model of aesthetic liking” to explain how the brain consciously processes aesthetics.
As Lee does not possess any expertise in aesthetic criticism, nor has any social capital in the field, the court ruled that his comment “only reflects the functioning of his individual mind and does not have authoritative social credibility.”
As such, it would not persuade or incite others, and therefore would not harm Cheng’s reputation, it said.
The court also said that from the content of their argument, it is impossible to determine whether Lee intentionally delivered an insult, even though the phrase angered Cheng.
The case has generated significant interest in the legal community as to whether calling someone ugly or actions such as giving someone the middle finger constitute a crime.
Similar cases cross the court docket regularly. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it receives about a dozen per month.
Some have photographic evidence showing the defendant pointing and looking at the plaintiff, while others are difficult to prove the insult was directed at a particular person.
The public insult clause in the Criminal Code stipulates a punishment of “short-term imprisonment” or a fine of up to NT$9,000.
The insult must also be public to be considered a crime, which in legal terms means a place where someone other than the person or people being accused can bear witness, attorney Ting Yu-jen (丁昱仁) said.
For instance, if someone shows someone else the middle finger on a street, it would be considered public because a third party could come by at any time, even if there were no witnesses to the incident itself, Ting said.
An insult is determined by whether there was the subjective intent to belittle another person, he said.
The law is intended to protect the “right of fame,” or the right to human dignity and reputation, Ting said.
It is expressed through the respect that people deserve in the process of social interaction, meaning that giving the middle finger is the same as cursing and would constitute a crime, he added.
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