[MK Chris]

A little-known law which prohibits people dying while in the Houses of Parliament has been voted the UK's most ludicrous piece of legislation.
Another law which states it is treason to use a postage stamp upside down was placed in second place by those polled by UKTV.

The most absurd international law was judged to be in the US state of Ohio, where it is illegal to get fish drunk.

The 3,931 people asked selected the laws from a shortlist of bizarre rules.

A total of 27% of those questioned thought the law against dying in the Houses of Parliament was the most absurd, while 7% voted for the legislation banning placing postage stamps upside down.

In third place, with 6%, came a law stating that only a clerk in a tropical fish store has permission to be topless in public in Liverpool.

Other lesser-known laws making the top 10 included one banning eating mince pies on Christmas Day and another stating it is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.

Almost half of those asked confessed to breaking the mince pie law, which was brought in by Oliver Cromwell in the 17th Century.

The unusual international laws on the list included legislation against naming a pig Napoleon in France, driving while wearing a blindfold in Alabama and unmarried women parachuting on a Sunday.

The Law Society last year revealed other bizarre UK laws still in existence on the statute book.

They included a ban on firing a cannon close to a dwelling house (Met Police Act 1839); a ban on the use of any slide upon ice or snow (Town Police Clauses Act 1847); and the prohibition of driving cattle through the streets of London (Metropolitan Streets Act 1867).

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%)

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%)

We have probably discussed this before and some of these I've heard of, but they're all ridiculous. I like how someone must have attempted to intoxicate a fish in order for the law to be brought in in the first place..

[markool89]

[quote="Topher"][quote="BBC News"]A little-known law which prohibits people dying while in the Houses of Parliament has been voted the UK's most ludicrous piece of legislation.
Another law which states it is treason to use a postage stamp upside down was placed in second place by those polled by UKTV.

...................[*] In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation (8%)..........................
[quote]
thats very disturbing....buts its not hard for someone not to catch you, surley?!

[Yudster]

I love this kind of stuff, seeing as I spend half my life immersed in various statute books and bits of legislation. Footy, I'll meet you in York. Oooh, it's fancy dress, come as Robin Hood......!


Also, I think I've posted this before but what the hell - in the state of Arkansas it is illegal to mispronounce the word "Arkansas".

[MK Chris]

I love this kind of stuff, seeing as I spend half my life immersed in various statute books and bits of legislation.

I do too, I find it very funny.

Footy, I'll meet you in York. Oooh, it's fancy dress, come as Robin Hood......!

Haha yeah.. "just hold this a minute..."

[foot-loose]

Humph.

Imagine living in a country which actually has a law that allows murder. I do feel sorry for you.

[Yudster]

You're just jealous. Well, that goes without saying.

*duck and cover.....*

[S4B]

I have a couple of books of these at work!

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesw ... ku=5653526

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesw ... ku=4860005

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesw ... ku=5355684

[Boboff]

I like the fact that you can buy pornography on a Sunday, but you can't buy a Bible !
All males over 14 must take 2 hours on a Sunday to practice Archery.

[Yudster]

Especially Scottish males in York.

[foot-loose]

See if i'm armed with a bow and arrow, you would have no chance. I'm a modern day Robin Hood, me. I even look good in tights!

[MK Chris]

I thought you said stockings were your preference?

[foot-loose]

No - thats what I was wearing in that photo you asked me to send.

Tights are the way forward, but I can do stockings.

[Zoot]

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

Genius, just pure genius...

[pjordan2000]

In Kentucky it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket! Seriously, who would carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket in the first place and do you reckon they had a flake with it!?

[markool89]

In Kentucky it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket! Seriously, who would carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket in the first place and do you reckon they had a flake with it!?

ive done that.... with a flake! by the way that was ages ago, before i knew better!

(do i know better now??)

[MK Chris]

Are you lying about that?

[markool89]

haha sadly, no! from now on, im not lying, ok?!

[MK Chris]

Are you lying about that?

[Boboff]

Are you lying about that?

Are you Bullying ?

[Yudster]

No - thats what I was wearing in that photo you asked me to send.

Tights are the way forward, but I can do stockings.

I bet you can you saucy minx.

[Sunny So Cal]

There's a California city that has a law that you will be fined $500 (around 300 quid or so) if you detonate a nuclear device in their city limits. No mention of jail time. Just a small nominal fee........

[Walter Sobchak]

There is a law in the UK prohibiting women enjoying chocolate on public transport. It's something like that anyway.

I've heard of that law too, but can't seem to find it in my brief search.

I do know that chocolate was originally served as a liquid (not like hot chocolate, I think it was more like an oil?) only to gentlemen, and came with a chili pepper. (and there was no such thing as milk chocolate then)
I think it was thought of as an aphrodisiac, so it wasn't only women that were banned from having it (so to speak) but 'the poor' were too.

[foot-loose]

The women and the poor should have their baws chopped off and not fed any chocolate. Poor women... don't get me started!