The Constitutional Court’s decision on whether the current law that makes tattoos performed by non-medical personnel illegal is in violation of the Constitution is coming out on the 31st.
The Constitutional Court will proceed with the sentence of a constitutional complaint filed today by tattooists who perform artistic or semi-permanent tattoos, claiming that Article 27(1) of the Medical Act violates the freedom to choose a profession.
The current Medical Act and the Act on Special Measures for the Control of Health Crimes apply both imprisonment for life or two years or more and a fine of not less than 1 million won and not more than 10 million won for unlicensed medical practice.
However, the claimants argue that Korea has been penalizing tattoos performed by non-doctors as illegal medical practices for 30 years based on the Supreme Court precedent in 1992 stating that ‘tattoos are medical practices’, which is not in line with the global trend.
He also emphasizes that even though the tattoo industry has established itself as an industry, basic rights have been violated because the law does not stipulate the qualifications and requirements that allow tattooing to be performed as a business.
Tattoo-related bills have been proposed several times in the National Assembly, and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has also requested a bill to legalize tattoos for non-medical personnel, but tattooing for non-medical personnel is illegal.
Tattooists organizations, such as the Korean Association of Tattoo Artists, have filed constitutional complaints several times since 2017. The Constitutional Court is planning to merge six similar constitutional complaints on the same day to determine whether it is unconstitutional.
© ‘Global Economic Daily in 5 Languages’ Ajou Economic Daily. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited
