PUTRAJAYA, July 1 — The Federal Court today decided that a legal provision which makes it illegal for an organiser to not inform police five days before a peaceful rally — the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012’s Section 9(5) — is unconstitutional and is no longer a valid law in Malaysia.
The Federal Court’s five-judge panel unanimously decided to strike down Section 9(5).
This means that it is now no longer a crime in Malaysia if an organiser fails to give a five-day advance notice to the police of a peaceful rally.
Under Section 9(5), a person who fails to give the five days’ notice commits an offence, and will be fined a maximum RM10,000 if convicted in court.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired the panel, said Section 9(5) cannot be seen as a valid restriction on the constitutional right to peaceful assembly under the Federal Constitution’s Article 10(1)(b), but that it amounts to a prohibition and also a disproportionate incursion of this right.
“Section 9(5) therefore violates the right to peaceful assembly under Article 10(1)(b) and must be struck down as null and void under Article 4(1),” she said when delivering her decision here.
The four other judges who agreed with the decision are President of the Court of Appeal Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Federal Court judges Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
MORE TO COME
