The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that insulting public officials is punishable under the Constitution, while defaming a public office is not.
The court sent a case about criticism of an official back to the Taiwan High Court for a retrial based on the interpretation.
The defendant, Yang Hui-ju (楊蕙如), in 2022 was found guilty of contravening Article 140 of the Criminal Code after Yang allegedly paid people to post criticism online of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office’s Osaka branch over its handling of evacuations of Taiwanese from Japan following a 2018 typhoon.
Photo: Wen Yu-te, Taipei Times
Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), who was director-general of the office at the time, committed suicide in his residence shortly after the criticism began.
Article 140 stipulates a prison sentence of up to one year or a fine of up to NT$100,000 for “insult[ing] a public official during the discharge of his legal duties or publicly mak[ing] insults about his discharge of such legal duties.”
The office was accused by members of the public of failing to offer aid to Taiwanese when Kansai International Airport flooded when Typhoon Jebi hit Japan in 2018.
Yang sought a constitutional interpretation, saying that Article 140 contravenes constitutionally guaranteed free speech.
At a discussion at the Constitutional Court last year, a Ministry of Justice representative said that insulting public officials was not a crime unique to Taiwan and that those working on behalf of the country should be protected.
The Constitutional Court said that Article 140 has two parts, one referring to “slandering or defaming a public official” and one to “slandering or defaming a public office.”
Regarding the former part, if defamation is immediate and intended to obstruct an official, it should be punished, which would not contravene Article 11 of the Constitution, it said.
Article 11 says: “The people shall have freedom of speech, teaching, writing and publication.”
However, people are entitled to question, criticize or comment on the decisions of an office, as this is a part of democracy and civic oversight, it said.
Even if a member of the public were to simply curse the office or direct vulgar language at it as a means of venting their frustration, it would still be within their free-speech rights, it said.
It is difficult to imagine public defamation of an office having any immediate or noticeable effect on public officials carrying out their jobs, so criminalization under Article 140 would contravene the Constitution, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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