I wanted to share a few of my favourite strange and bizarre English laws:
- - Believe it or not, it is apparently illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
- - Along the same lines, Members of Parliament are not allowed to don a suit of Armour in the Houses of Parliament.
- - A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wishes, including in a Policeman’s helmet.
- - It is legal to murder a Scotsman if he is carrying a bow and arrow, within the walls of the city of York.
- - In London, all “Hackney Carriages” (more commonly known as taxis nowadays) must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats, by law. (This was repealed in 1976 though)
- - It is illegal to hang a bed out a window.
- - It is an act of treason to place a stamp bearing the Queen’s head upside down.
- - Similarly, it is illegal to stand on a British coin displaying the Queen’s head face up.
- - Believe it or not, it is actually illegal for anyone in England to consume mince pies on the 25th December.
I recently read a book detailing some of the Law’s strangest cases, which prompted me to find out more. They really are some of the most bizarre cases ever heard of…
- - All individuals familiar with English law will have heard of Donoghue v Stevenson, the famous case that established the duty of care in tort. However, many people are unaware that the case never actually made it to court for a damages claim, as poor Mr Stevenson died before the claim was brought, thus leading to an out-of-court settlement of a mere £200. Despite this, the case went on to open the floodgates for future claims.
- - In France this year, a French man was ordered to pay his wife 10,000 euros in damages for the lack of sex in their marriage. He was fined under article 215 of the French Civil Code, which states that married couples must agree to share a “communal life”. The Judge ruled that this implied sexual relations, and that as it was absent in this case, he must be found liable for his actions.
- - In contrast to this, an English case in the 1980’s found that a woman who was rationing her husband to sexual relations only once a week was acting reasonably and therefore no damages were to be awarded.
For more reading see:
Peter Seddon, Law’s Strangest Cases (2005)
