Ordinances that require performers to pass tests before they can receive permits are unconstitutional, the Council of Grand Justices said yesterday in Constitutional Interpretation No. 806.
A street performer surnamed Chen (陳) in 2014 was issued five demerit points and banned from reapplying for a performers’ permit for a year after the Taipei City Government ruled that the number of people watching a performance of his had exceeded the maximum for the area he had applied to use, a breach of the now-defunct Regulations for Taipei Street Performers’ Performances.
Chen appealed the ruling and asked the council for an interpretation.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
People are at liberty to choose their own profession and express themselves artistically, which has been infringed upon by city and county government demands that street performers pass a test before they obtain performance permits, Constitutional Interpretation No. 806 says.
Such regulations do not truly benefit the public, it says.
While local governments should not be allowed to review the content of a street performer’s act, they can review the time, location, methods and other aspects apart from the performance, the council said.
For example, a local government cannot mandate that a street performer refrain from baring their body during a performance, but they can limit them to times and places where they would not affect children and other passers-by, it said.
A local government must tender a draft ordinance that is approved by its council if it wishes to regulate performance times and locations, the Council of Grand Justices said.
There are still several counties and cities that have regulations requiring permits and it is expected that they will review and amend them as soon as possible, it said.
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