UK chooses 'most ludicrous laws'

[edesignuk]

The UK's top 10 most ridiculous British laws were listed as:


1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27%)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down (7%)

3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)

4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned(5%)

5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter (4%)

6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4%)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (3.5%)

8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (3%)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour

10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)
False teeth

The top 10 bizarre foreign laws as voted by those polled:


1. In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk (9%)

2. In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation (8%)

3. A male doctor in Bahrain can only examine the genitals of a woman in the reflection of a mirror (7%)

4. In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm (6%)

5. It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle in Alabama (6%)

6. In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on a Sunday could be jailed (6%)

7. Women in Vermont must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth (6%)

8. In Milan, it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits (5%)

9. There is no age of consent in Japan (5%)

10. In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon (4%)

BBC.

These sorts of things never fail to amuse

 

[runplaysleeprun]

I love these things. Seriously, though, no age of consent in Japan?

 

[edesignuk]

I love these things. Seriously, though, no age of consent in Japan?

I can see the line of pedos forming now

 

[Blue Velvet]

It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.

That is a truly bizarre one... I'd like to know how that came about.

Kansas (allegedly) — If two trains meet on the same track, neither shall proceed until the other has passed.

 

[xUKHCx]

We someone most stop him

3. A male doctor in Bahrain can only examine the genitals of a woman in the reflection of a mirror (7%)

Just hope the doctor is good at reflected hand eye coordination.

That is a pretty funny list.

Now off to York I go. hi-ho hi-ho hi-ho hi-ho

 

[dcv]

It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.

That is a truly bizarre one... I'd like to know how that came about.

They misread "guppies" as "puppies"? Dey doo doh, don't dey doh

 

[ErikCLDR]

Here are some interesting ones from Connecticut.

-Town records may not be kept where liquor is sold.
-You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour.
-In order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce.
-It is illegal to dispose of used razor blades.
-It is illegal to discharge a firearm from a public highway.

And this one which is always enforced
-You cannot buy any alcohol on Sundays.

 

[PowerFullMac]

Ha, this is great! *bookmarked*

 

[Stampyhead]

9. There is no age of consent in Japan (5%)

That one qualifies more as a ludicrous lack of law...

 

[Cromulent]

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.

That one makes sense from a historical perspective especially when you consider the civil war.

Still some of the others really are odd.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

If memory serves, the 'no mince pies on Christmas Day' law was brought in by those fun-lovin' Puritans way back in the 17th Century – they banned all kinds of festive frivolity. Once they lost their grip on power mince pies and the like soon returned, but the laws were never officially taken off the statute books.

 

[Tom B.]

In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation

How does anyone live past 15!? I know I wouldn't of!

 

[Ish]

If memory serves, the 'no mince pies on Christmas Day' law was brought in by those fun-lovin' Puritans way back in the 17th Century.

Just how old are you JC?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Just how old are you JC?

I'm just old enough to remember not getting any presents that year...

 

[mpw]

...And this one which is always enforced
-You cannot buy any alcohol on Sundays.

It's a shame that there's been such progress in the last ten years, because I remember not being allowed to sell spirits on a Sunday in Guernsey, to the point that the garages couldn't sell petrol as it's a spirit.

Just how old are you JC?

He's about 2007 give or take 40 years isn't he?

 

[xUKHCx]

He's about 2007 give or take 40 years isn't he?

Well Jaffa Cakes were sent from God.

 

[swiftaw]

Well Jaffa Cakes were sent from God.

Amen to that

 

[Abstract]

Jaffa = Jesus.

 

[Queso]

Jaffa = Jesus.

I thought having two accounts was against the MR rules

 

[maestro55]

There are several lists of strange laws but I wonder on some of them if they are true or not. Some couldn't be enforced anyhow. Until a couple of years ago it was against the law for gay men to have sex in Texas and the reason it became legal is they tried to enforce it, I do not remember how the story went but the supreme court shot the law down.

 

[r1ch4rd]

If memory serves, the 'no mince pies on Christmas Day' law was brought in by those fun-lovin' Puritans way back in the 17th Century – they banned all kinds of festive frivolity. Once they lost their grip on power mince pies and the like soon returned, but the laws were never officially taken off the statute books.

I believe it was actually Oliver Cromwell who actually even Christmas completely.

 

[scotthayes]

Dumb laws and a holiday = one hell of a funny book

 

[iRachel]

Any Chicagoans know if it's still illegal to take your cow into the Loop (downtown) after 5PM?

 

[Stampyhead]

9. There is no age of consent in Japan (5%)

By the way, I checked on this one (because it didn't seem right) and Japan does actually have an age of consent, it's just a bit hazy what it actually is. It can be anywhere from 13 to 17, depending on where you are and who you ask. I wonder how many of these laws aren't real...

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I thought having two accounts was against the MR rules

I've actually got three accounts – this one, the son's, and the holy ghost's.