A local bar association on Thursday filed a petition with the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of a controversial anti-corruption law.
The move came just two days after the National Assembly passed the bill despite controversy over its possible violation of individuals’ constitutional rights and what critics argued could be excessive legislation.
The law subjects public officials, journalists and private school faculty to a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of five times the amount they accept in money or valuables, if they take money or valuables worth more than 1 million won ($908) from one person in one installment, regardless of whether it is in exchange for favors or related to their work. For gifts that are work-related and worth 1 million won or less, the penalty is a fine of up to five times the gift’s value.
The so-called Kim Young-ran Law, named after the former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief who proposed the legislation in June 2011, was drawn up to tighten loopholes in existing anti-corruption rules under which public officials cannot be punished for accepting expensive gifts and services unless there is evidence of reciprocity.
“We empathize with the law’s purpose but came to file a constitutional petition against the law because it has elements that possibly go against the Constitution and problems of fairness,” Kim Sin-eop, a director of the Korean Bar Association, told reporters before submitting the petition to the court.
The association argued that the law’s inclusion of journalists among those subject to the law can infringe on freedom of the press and people’s rights for equality.
The law’s articles requiring people to report their spouses’ acceptance of a bribe or expensive gifts to the authorities or face criminal punishment go against principles of freedom of conscience and self-responsibility in the Constitution, the association said.
The law is scheduled to go into effect in September 2016 with a grace period of one and a half years from the day when it is promulgated. (Yonhap)
