공직선거법 제93조 제1항 한정위헌결정(2007헌마1001)의 의미와 과제

This decision exerts limited impact because the subject of the ruling was limited to the freedom of political expression on the Internet and the Court found a circumstantial violation of the constitution, which is not acknowledged by the Court to have an effect of sentence. However, the significance of this ruling is that the Constitutional Court, in the process of delivering it, applied the strict assessment standard and acknowledged the importance of freedom of political expression on the Internet and the value of election in a society of representational democracy. The Constitutional Court should maintain the same progressive stance it showed in this decision when deliberating on other provisions restricting the freedom of offline political expression or election campaign. While it is reasonable, considering the characteristics of Internet media, that freedom of expression on the Internet is better protected, offline political expressions are no less important. A diversity in means of running election campaigns should be permitted in order to encourage participation by voters and to achieve the objective of forming a democratic representational body. Furthermore, the National Election Commission and the Prosecutor's Office must respect the Constitutional Court's decision and refrain from cracking down on or prosecuting online political expressions or election campaigns. The Court must acquit the convicted even when the Prosecutor's Office decides to prosecute. It should change its precedent so as to allow petition for retrial based on the decision at hand, therefore making it possible for a substantial remedy for violation of right. Fundamentally, the National Assembly should take this opportunity to eliminate the limitation of duration for online election campaigns, and it should begin a full-scale discussion on the make and break of the restrictions on offline election campaigns.