8/10/2017 Constitutional Court Korea > Decisions > Major Decisions Article 311 (Insult) A person who publicly insults another shall be punished by imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding two million won. Relevant Provisions Article 21, Article 37(2) of the Constitution Cases for Reference 1. 17-1 KCCR 812, 821-822, 2002Hun-Ba83, June 30, 200521-1(B) KCCR 545, 560-561, 2006Hun-Ba109, etc. May 28, 200922-2(B) KCCR 368, 377-378, 2009Hun-Ba27, November 25, 2010 2. 17-2 KCCR 311, 319, 2002Hun-Ma425, October 27, 2005 Parties Complainant Jin Xxxxx-kwon Representative: Yi-Gong Lawyers Attorney in Charge: Huh Jin-min Underlying Case 2010Do10130, Supreme Court, on insult and violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and information Protection, etc. (defamation) Holding Article 311 of the Criminal Act (amended by Act No. 5057, Dec. 29, 1995) does not contravene the Constitution. Reasoning I. Case Introduction and Subject Matter of Review A. Case Introduction 1. The complainant was prosecuted on charges of insult and violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and information Protection, etc. (defamation) for making posts insulting a person on his Daum blog as well as the members' page of the xxxx Party website, and also for defaming a person by publicly disclosing false information for purpose of libel on the xxxx Party website, and was sentenced to 3 million Korean won in fine by a district court (2009Kodan6302, Seoul Central District Court). He filed an appeal with the court of appeals but had it denied (2010No615, Seoul High Court), and when he took this case to the Supreme Court, the appeal was denied again on December 22, 2011 (2010Do10130, Supreme Court). 2. The complainant, with his appeal pending before the Supreme Court, filed a motion with the Court requesting constitutional review by the Constitutional Court of Article 311 of the Criminal Act that outlaws insult, arguing that the provision is void for vagueness under the vagueness doctrine and that it infringes on the freedom of expression (2011ChoKi245, Supreme Court). However, as the motion was denied on December 22, 2011 and the decision of rejection was served on December 26, he filed the complaint of this case on January 25, 2012. B. Subject Matter of Review The matter subject to review in this case is whether Article 311 of the Criminal Act (amended by Act No. 5057, Dec. 29, 1995) is constitutional, and the provision at issue is the following: Criminal Act <Amended by Act No. 5057, Dec. 29, 1995> Article 311 (Insult) A person who publicly insults another shall be punished by imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding two million won. II. Argument of the Complainant A. The Provision regulates expressions by employing an overly abstract and broad concept of "insult" as an element of crime, which is contrary to the principle of clarity required by the restrictive legislation on freedom of expression and the void for vagueness doctrine derived from the principle of legality. B. The purpose of punishing insult is to protect one's subjective, inner feelings of his/her reputation that tend to resist insult. Yet, this subjective perception of one's reputation is difficult to measure in an objective manner and is therefore not appropriate to warrant protection by law, so there is no conceivable legitimate purpose. Additionally, enforcing criminal punishment of insult, when there are other options such as social norms or dispute resolution measures, is neither an appropriate means nor satisfies the principle of proportionality. And it is not a possibility that a mere opinion, emotion or abstract judgement unaccompanied by factual statements would pose a clear and present danger to national security, maintenance of law and order, or public welfare. http://english.ccourt.go.kr/cckhome/eng/decisions/majordecisions/majorDetail.do 2/7