Which of these is the most ridiculous LAW?

i used to have a "crazy laws" book (ie no hitching your horse to a lamppost on sunday in kentucky)

I wonder how many of these are actually real instead of urban legends.

That's the point, they are real.

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

A clear winner.

In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm.

Spray

It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.
If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter.
In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet.
It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.
It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.
In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk.
In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm.
It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle in Alabama.
Women in Vermont must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

I agree with all these.

where is 'no smoking in pubs'?

The topless/liverpool one...

Vic Reeves been makin rules?

xpost it's standing outside in the rain

So who is going to open a tropical fish store in Liverpool then?

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

that's my favourite ridiculous law

That's the point, they are real.

Why, just because someone did a poll on them? At least the UK laws seemed to checked in the actual lawbook, but I'm not so sure about the international laws. There are a kazillion "wacky laws" lists in circulation, few of which ever cite the actual section they are supposedly from.

In Norway, it is illegal to dispute ridiculous laws.

I wonder what the reasoning behind the fish clerk topless law was? Probably something to do with what was meant by 'topless'.

On any given list of these laws, about a third will be completely made up, and half will only be "real" in the sense that they were valid laws once, but have since been rendered invalid by court decisions or subsequent legislation.

Well, if you are moving a wet fishtank, you may well get your t-shirt wet and make it see-through. So, it's OK to take it off, move the tank, then dry off. But who is to define when you are in the process of 'moving' the fishtank? And what if you have no towel? It seems the law has a caveat to allow natural drying to take place. I'll stop now.

And what if you have no towel?
it's illegal to run a tropical fish store without towels.

yeah, but that's the responsibility of the store owner, not the person with a dry top!

I voted for the whale one. I can't see any reasoning for it at all. And it's fraught with difficulties. As whales don't have necks per se how do you determine where the head ends and the body begins? Where do you measure the tail from? Is it just the flukes or the flesh around the caudal vertebrae? Who gets the body? If the reigning monarch is a queen, does she get both extremities?

I'm sure she does, already!

What about the Prince of Whales? Surely he should get a piece too?

if the whale is found on the beach in Ireland with one half of it in Northern Ireland and the other in the Republic, WHAT THEN? Especially given the political situation in the north? Would there be a big argument in Stormont, with Gerry Adams insisting that the whole whale remain in Ireland intact, and Ian Paisley insisting equally vehemently that the ends be shipped off to London?

This one's pretty amazing too: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21661718/

That Florida ones bemusing too.

Was this one ever true?

In York: Excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow

my guess for the topless tropical fish clerk would be that it gets fairly hot and humid in those shops, or it used to before air con days.

If the reigning monarch is a queen, does she get both extremities?

That's between her and Michael Fagan!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Was this one ever true?

In York: Excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow

I've always heard it as Canterbury and a Welshman, so I'm guessing both are false. :(

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The results from the actual poll:

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 (3%)

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%)

and the most ridiculous foreign laws:

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

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

3. In Bahrain, a male doctor 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. In Alabama, it is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle (6%)

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

7. In Vermont, women 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 funerals or hospital visits (5%)

9. In Japan, there is no age of consent (5%)

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

So no one thinks it should be illegal to get fish drunk in ohio? :)