The Constitutional Court struck down a legal requirement Friday that permission should be obtained before outdoor rallies of an urgent or incidental nature can be held.
Current laws require advance permission from police for all outdoor rallies, even impromptu events. The justices of the Constitutional Court found the requirement overly restrictive and in violation of freedom of assembly.
The court ruled that the requirement will be invalidated from 2015, and that lawmakers should amend the law to exempt urgent or incidental cases from requiring advance permission.
The ruling was issued in response to a petition for constitutional interpretation filed in 2010 by a Taipei District Court judge, who was presiding over a case where two professors were indicted for initiating a sit-in without permission in 2008.