Tuesday, 26 March 2019

Man breaks obscure English laws, tried to get arrested

Lots of crazy fun laws still on the books in Blighty, though I'd hazard a guess that many of them have in fact been formally overturned or superceded.

Some, though, are new enough.

The Salmon Act 1986 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1986, which regulates salmon fishery. It is frequently cited in lists of absurd or unusual laws, since it contains a provision making it illegal to "handle salmon in suspicious circumstances". ...

It should only take a moment to realize that this refers to poaching; but why ruin a funny video? A part of the magic is the English fondness for vaguely- or obscurely-worded laws. It's a cultural thing that becomes harder to grasp the more you reach for it. One of putting it is that the role of law in England is not enforcement but prosecution.