The requirement for organisers to furnish police with a 10-day advance notice before a rally, as stipulated under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA), is still in effect despite a recent Court of Appeal ruling declaring it unconstitutional.

According to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, this is due to the fact the Attorney-General Chamber’s is appealing the April 25 ruling.

Hence, Khalid said this renders Section 9(1) of the PAA “still relevant” and “still good”.

Section 9(1) stipulates the requirement for the 10 days' notice while Section 9(5) punishes those who do not adhere to it.

“As long as the matter is under appeal, the legal requirement is still relevant and we (police) will enforce it,” he said.

He was speaking during a press conference following a shooting event with the media in Cheras in conjunction with the 207th Police Day.

'Cops still probing rally organisers'

On April 25, the Court of Appeal ruled that Section 9(5) of the PAA was unconstitutional as it was effectively a ban on any spontaneous demonstrations.

The constitutionality of the law was contested in the case of Selangor deputy speaker Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad who was charged under Section 9(5) for his involvement in the Black 505 protest on May 8, 2013.

The Court of Appeal in its ruling also threw out the charge against Nik Nazmi.

The ruling has become the focus of attention as it came days before the May Day rally where some 50,000 people took to Dataran Merdeka to protest the Goods and Services Tax (GST) due to come into effect on April 1, 2015.

However, the police are adamant and have opened investigation papers against rally organisers under Section 9(1) of the PAA.

"Under this act (PAA), police force is to facilitate the rally but the organisers must still abide by the law.

"In this matter, we have began investigation due to breach of a number of provisions under the PAA, and among them, not providing a (10-day) notice," said Khalid.