ID :
27548
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 18:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/27548
The shortlink copeid
Constitutional Court upholds controversial anti-adultery law
(By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday by the narrowest margin ever in favor of the country's 55-year-old anti-adultery law that punishes extramarital affairs.
The ruling is the fourth time in the country's history that the court has backed
the law, under which nearly 1,200 people are indicted annually and subject to up
to two years in prison.
The court made its decision after five of its nine judges voiced their opposition
to the law. A two-thirds majority, or six judges, is needed to rule a law
unconstitutional.
"The fact that five voiced opposition is worth noting," Kim Il-su, a law
professor at Korea University in Seoul, said. "It reflects a significant shift in
social norms toward sexual privacy."
"Yet, the panel failed to reach an agreement strong enough to strike down the
law, which shows its lingering concerns that doing so would usher in the
deterioration of family values and disrupt social integrity," he said.
The ruling came nearly nine months after a South Korean star, actress Ok So-ri,
filed a suit complaining the law infringes on her individual freedom. She
admitted last year to having an affair with a pop singer, and was sued by her
then husband, popular entertainer Park Chul, in a scandal that gripped the
nation.
Ok divorced Park in September after a nasty court battle over child custody
rights. Park says he has sufficient evidence to prove that Ok also engaged in
adultery with an Italian chef, demanding their punishment.
The scandal has since erupted into a fresh controversy over the law, which
supporters say serves as a shield against infidelity, while opponents dismiss it
as an anachronism in a country with an increasing divorce rate.
"The law violates freedom and privacy associated with the individual rights to
sexual conduct, as well as the constitutional principle against excessive
regulation," three judges who opposed the law stated in the ruling.
But the court said in its final ruling that the law is in line with the principle
against excessive restriction and "does not violate the right to sexual
determination nor the privacy and freedom of an individual."
About 1,200 people have been indicted annually on charges of adultery in the last
three years, with only a small portion of them actually being put behind bars.
South Korean courts have shown increasing leniency toward those convicted of
adultery, with the vast majority of them given suspended sentences. Women's
rights groups have also withdrawn their support for the law over the years, as a
growing number of wives have been accused of infidelity.
The last time the Constitutional Court supported the anti-adultery law was in
2001. South Korea is one of only a handful of countries in the world that retains
a law against extramarital affairs.
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday by the narrowest margin ever in favor of the country's 55-year-old anti-adultery law that punishes extramarital affairs.
The ruling is the fourth time in the country's history that the court has backed
the law, under which nearly 1,200 people are indicted annually and subject to up
to two years in prison.
The court made its decision after five of its nine judges voiced their opposition
to the law. A two-thirds majority, or six judges, is needed to rule a law
unconstitutional.
"The fact that five voiced opposition is worth noting," Kim Il-su, a law
professor at Korea University in Seoul, said. "It reflects a significant shift in
social norms toward sexual privacy."
"Yet, the panel failed to reach an agreement strong enough to strike down the
law, which shows its lingering concerns that doing so would usher in the
deterioration of family values and disrupt social integrity," he said.
The ruling came nearly nine months after a South Korean star, actress Ok So-ri,
filed a suit complaining the law infringes on her individual freedom. She
admitted last year to having an affair with a pop singer, and was sued by her
then husband, popular entertainer Park Chul, in a scandal that gripped the
nation.
Ok divorced Park in September after a nasty court battle over child custody
rights. Park says he has sufficient evidence to prove that Ok also engaged in
adultery with an Italian chef, demanding their punishment.
The scandal has since erupted into a fresh controversy over the law, which
supporters say serves as a shield against infidelity, while opponents dismiss it
as an anachronism in a country with an increasing divorce rate.
"The law violates freedom and privacy associated with the individual rights to
sexual conduct, as well as the constitutional principle against excessive
regulation," three judges who opposed the law stated in the ruling.
But the court said in its final ruling that the law is in line with the principle
against excessive restriction and "does not violate the right to sexual
determination nor the privacy and freedom of an individual."
About 1,200 people have been indicted annually on charges of adultery in the last
three years, with only a small portion of them actually being put behind bars.
South Korean courts have shown increasing leniency toward those convicted of
adultery, with the vast majority of them given suspended sentences. Women's
rights groups have also withdrawn their support for the law over the years, as a
growing number of wives have been accused of infidelity.
The last time the Constitutional Court supported the anti-adultery law was in
2001. South Korea is one of only a handful of countries in the world that retains
a law against extramarital affairs.
