PUTRAJAYA — The Federal Court has ruled that Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which criminalised failure to notify police five days before holding a peaceful rally, is unconstitutional and no longer valid.
In a unanimous decision, the five-judge panel led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat declared the provision a violation of the constitutional right to peaceful assembly under Article 10(1)(b).
The court found the law to be a disproportionate restriction and struck it down as null and void. Other judges on the panel included Tan Sri Abang Iskandar, Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, and Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
