Ridiculous Rules
According to a list of laughable laws, fit for the summer silly season, it’s treasonable in Britain to place a postage stamp bearing the image of the monarch upside down. And in England, all men over the age of 14 must carry out two hours of longbow practice a day. And… there are 25 of these odd survivors for you to enjoy on the Times Online. There are also over a hundred comments to enjoy, most, however, being aimed at the poor American lawyer who didn’t read carefully enough and thought the item about York was about New York.
There are none about Canada, and I’m ambivalent about that fact. Surely we can come up with some homegrown stupidity or some remnant of a now-puzzling past. It would also be fun to find the source (and, so, the truth) of the claim about treason and the postage stamp. Anyone?
Here is some from Nova Scotia, posted a while back:
http://www.slaw.ca/2006/01/20/more-odd-legislation/
Hmmm, not enough hours these days to do some UK legislative history research but I can point to this “fun collection of strange and surprising laws from coast to coast” called “You Can’t Do That In Canada” by Bev Spencer: http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/youcantdothatincanada/
It’s for kids aged 8 and up so unfortunately, you won’t find exact citations to the statutes and regulations mentioned in here. A fun read nonetheless. It could also help you come up with some fun legal research exercises…