The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed large retailers’ petition to review regulations allowing limitations to their operations.

The nine constitutional justices reached a unanimous decision that the issue was not eligible for review as the Distribution Industry Development Act cannot be considered an infringement of large retailers’ basic rights in itself.

The petition was filed by four large retailers including Homeplus and E-mart, which claimed that their basic rights were violated as the act discriminates between large and small retailers.

The act has been at the center of contention between the government and retail giants since its introduction under the Lee Myung-bak administration as part of efforts to promote “shared growth” between large companies and small businesses,

Under Article 12 of the Distribution Industry Development Act, provincial government chiefs can limit the operations of large retail stores as such establishments are deemed to be detrimental to smaller retailers in the region.

The act allows provincial governments to designate mandatory closing days for larger retailers, and restrict business hours between midnight and 10 a.m.

At present large retail stores are required to close on two days each month.

By Choi He-suk
(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)