Top 10 stupidest laws you may encounter abroad

by Annie Scott on

We’ve all heard about the ridiculous, archaic laws of the United States, stuff about shooting bison from trains and grazing your cows on Boston Common and so forth. But it’s imperative to be aware of completely useless laws in other parts of the world, in case you should happen to travel there and find yourself in a really, really unlikely situation.

Here they are, the top 10 stupidest laws you may encounter abroad:

  1. Australia – It is illegal to roam the streets wearing black clothes, felt shoes and black shoe polish on your face as these items are the tools of a cat burglar.
  2. France – Between the hours of 8AM and 8PM, 70% of the music in the radio must be by French composers.
  3. Thailand – It is illegal to leave your house if you are not wearing underwear.
  4. Italy – It is an offence for women of ‘ill repute or evil looks’ to enter a cheese factory in the area of Ferrara.
  5. Scotland – It is illegal to be a drunk while in possession of a cow.
  6. France – It is illegal in Antibes to take photos of police officers or police vehicles, even if they are just in the background. (I hope the photo at right isn’t from Antibes!)
  7. Lebanon – Men are legally allowed to have sex with animals so long as the animals are female. It is illegal to have sex with a male animal.
  8. China – Women are prohibited from walking around a hotel room in the nude. A woman may only be naked whilst in the bathroom.
  9. Hong Kong – A woman is legally allowed to kill her cheating husband, only if she uses her bare hands. The husband’s lover however may be killed in any manner desired.
  10. Switzerland – A man may not relieve himself while standing up, after 10 P.M.

BONUS: In parts of Tuscany, it’s illegal to put something into a minibar.
BONUS 2: We’ve got 10 more stupid laws.


Laws got these women in trouble. What’d they do wrong?

References:
LawGuru.com
FunFacts.com.au
DumbLaws.com

China to Ban Lip Synching

by Josh Lew on

Only a few months after China was ripped for having a nine-year-old lip synch a song during the Olympic opening ceremonies, the Ministry of Culture is declaring war on the art of pretending to sing music that is actually being played on the sound system.

A law is in the works, but the ministry said that it wants to seek public opinion before it begins enforcement. The “public opinion” stage is a mere formality. The parliament passes nearly all laws that are sent its way. A draft of the law states: “Performers must not cheat audiences by lip-synching, and concert organizers must not arrange for performers to lip-synch.” Two time offenders will be forced to relinquish their performer’s license for a two year period. First time synchers will merely be smeared by the Ministry of Culture.

Is all this just too ironic? No really. The Olympic lip synching incident was a major loss of face for Beijing. Cracking down is a way to regain some of their respect. Unfortunately, the impending law means that all that awful, awful Mandopop will become even more unbearable because there will be no studio-perfected soundtrack to keep us from hearing a pop star’s real voice.

Dubai Sex-on-the-Beach Couple Sentenced to Three Months in Jail

by Josh Lew on

It has not been a good summer for Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors. The couple’s seaside tryst has turned into a courtroom drama complete with medical evidence and appeals. The two British citizens, despite the best efforts of their lawyers, and despite the black-eye it will give to Dubai’s tourist industry, have been sentenced to three months in prison. Their lawyer claims that an appeal is possible. The three month sentence (followed by immediate deportation) is much lighter than the six years possible under the emirate’s laws.

If this was an isolated incident, perhaps caused by an over-zealous prosecutor, it wouldn’t be more than tabloid fodder. However, as Jerry pointed out here at Gadling a couple of weeks ago, this is not an isolated case. Even carrying the natural, over the counter sleep aid Melatonin is reason enough to get you in trouble with the authorities in Dubai.

Palmer and Acors will be in jail for three months. Then, they’ll be deported, and most likely get their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps Palmer can even turn the whole experience into a book deal or sell the rights to a movie studio. Dubai, on the other hand, will have to overcome the negative press it received from this case, and all the other cases that this one has brought attention too.

This is a bar, no profanities please

by Abha Malpani on

While the world is banning smoking in bars, restaurants are banning children, the city of St. Charles in St. Louis is planning to ban swearing, table-dancing, drinking drinking contests, or profane music in bars.

Although I appreciate its efforts to keep the pub environment as “clean” and orderly as possible, how do you stop people from swearing? Will they put a sign outside? Will they have undercover spies walking around eavesdropping on conversations and snitching about who they heard swearing? How bad must things get in this place to have to impose such a “Hitler” law? Aren’t they stepping on the basic civil-right of being able to say what you want?

The logic of some bans are just beyond me. I remember in Mumbai a few years ago, when an influential politician banned any nightclub to be open after 11pm! As a result, many nightclubs had secret back doors and as long as they weren’t too loud, they got away with being open until the wee-hours of the morning.

Although unfortunate for the respective cities, it’s good to know that these sort of absurd bans will never see the light of day outside a very limited area.