Taiwan’s Constitutional Court rules criminalizing adultery unconstitutional

2020/06/02

Taiwan’s laws and regulations criminalizing adultery were ruled unconstitutional and declared void effective immediately by the country’s Constitutional Court under the Judicial Yuan May 29.
 
 Interpretation No. 791 invalidated Article 239 of the Criminal Code and Article 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure—which both punished adultery—for infringing on sexual autonomy and an individual’s right to privacy. The provisions are no longer of public benefit and violate the principle of proportionality, the court said.
 
 Article 239 of the Criminal Code stipulated that a married person and a third party who commit adultery shall be sentenced to prison for no more than one year, while Article 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure specified that the withdrawal of a complaint against the spouse shall not prevent prosecution of the third party.
 
 In the interpretation, the court ruled Article 239 of the Criminal Code was not consistent with Articles 22 and 23 of the Constitution protecting people’s freedom and rights that are not detrimental to social order or public welfare. It also overturned Interpretation No. 554 made in 2002, which ruled freedom of sexual behavior is still subject to the restrictions of marriage and thereby concluded Article 239 was constitutional.
 
 Article 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was deemed by the court to violate equal rights as guaranteed in Article 7 of the Constitution.
 
 Lin Hui-huang, secretary general of the Judicial Yuan, said during a news conference May 29 in Taipei City that treating adultery as a criminal offense played a limited role in maintaining individual marriages or marriage as an institution. State intervention can also have a negative influence on relationships, he added.
 
 The announcement was welcomed by the government, which released a statement saying those who conduct adultery will remain liable under the Civil Code.
 
 The 15 Grand Justices of the Constitutional Court listened to oral arguments March 31 before undertaking two months of deliberation. Both the oral arguments and decision announcement for Interpretation No. 791 were live streamed to the public for the first time.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)