What is the most stupid law youv'e ever heard of?

[utternutter]

just wondering if anyone has heard of a law that sounds utterly stupid or an old law thats broken all the time in our everyday society that was created hundreds of years ago?

[(wardy)]

On a serious note, I think English Law is pathetic when you can't kill a burglar in your own home.

On a less serious note, I understand every London Cabbie breaks the law if they do not have a bundle of hay in the hackney carriage. a law of course never enforced.

[Wee_angel17]

that is sooo funny bout the london cabby...........imagine if tht actually was a law.
And i totally agree wif u wardy,coz if sum1 tried 2 burgle ma house i wuld wanna shoot them.America gets 2 do it so y cant we? ano tht accidents mite happen bt at the end of the day strangers shuldnt be on ur property!!

[Gmcd01]

The Salmon Act 1986 s.32- Makes a criminal offence of 'Handling salmon in suspicious circumstances'! Imagining a man in a mac with a torch and a fish under his arm lol... It's always cracked me up since 'discovering' it when I was a student...
Also, if you can't name the act that the so called 'law' comes from, it doesn't count! No stupid law without a statute can be verified...
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Question328 429.html

[dannydingbat]

Sorry, Wardy, you have become the victim of an urban myth. The law requiring a London taxi driver to carry a bale of hay on the roof of his cab to feed the horse was only a local bylaw and repealed in 1976. Some London drivers keep an ornamental small bale in their cars to show gullible people who will perpetuate the impression that we are all backward and a bit quaint and tip better!!.

The cabby, however, is still supposed to ask each passenger whether they are suffering from any �notifiable disease such as smallpox or the plague�. In Congleton a byelaw is still in force that prevents you �wilfully and persistently� loitering near a church door �to the annoyance or obstruction of any persons going to divine service�. Going back to London, the Chelsea and Kilmainham Act (of 1826) still makes it illegal to impersonate a Chelsea Pensioner. And wherever you are, the law against swearing imposed a sliding scale of penalties for cursing or swearing: one shilling for an �everyday labourer�, two shillings for everyone else �under the degree of gentleman�, and five shillings if you were above the degree of gentleman. This law was repealed only in 1967. But the ecclesiastical courts are still technically responsible for the prosecution on adultery and fornication.

[jake-the-peg]

Usually some wag says the Human Rights act

But seriously a lot of these old laws are now urban myths because sadly they have been repealed - like the requirement for archery practice on a Sunday.

But here's some that it's claimed are still out there:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6204511.stm

[JJ1969]

In the late Victorian era a law was passed banning Bath chairs ( a popular form of transport for the elderly) from being pushed 3 abreast in St James's and Green Park.

Sec 9 of The Outer Space Act 1986, gives magistrates powers to issue warrants to use 'reasonable force' to turn back alien invasions!!!

[Nether Edge]

Easter Act 1928.
Would fix date of Easter BUT never brought into force- the oldest unimplemented Act ever.

[RATTER15]

On completing my Countryside and Wildlife, Pest Control course, The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Foods (MAFF) (now DEFRA) gave me a booklet on using Cyanide gas in the countryside, it states that Cyanide gas may only be used for gassing rabbits, rats, hare and deer but must only be used in the confinements of their burrows!!

To this day, I have still not found a hare or a deer burrow, but I keep an eye out!!

[blaster1341]

A husband can brand his wife's buttock with a butter knife but it cannot be wider than his thumb, hence the saying 'rule of thumb'

[utternutter]

these are really gd.... luving the *u cant handle salmon in suspicious circumstances!* wot u gonna do with it!?... thanx keep em coming = )