As Westerners, it may never occur to us that some of our laws seem strange by the standards of foreign countries. For example, Californians may not shoot animals (except whales) from moving vehicles, Montana prohibits tearing phone books in half, Oklahomans may not molest vehicles, and men wearing strapless gowns can be arrested in Florida (sorry, Miami Beach). But that doesn’t stop us from proclaiming the laws of foreign countries to be strange and even disturbing. Here are just a few from around the world that are bound to leave you scratching your head.
- Dead on arrival. Taxi cabs in the UK are prohibited from carrying corpses (whether they are attended by a living counterpart or not). Rabid dogs are also banned from cab rides, raising the question of just how many rabid dogs have tried to hail a cab. Also illegal on the taxi front: flagging down a cab if you’ve contracted the plague.
- To pee or not to pee. Looks like it’s bad news for Portuguese fisherman: the country prohibits peeing in the ocean. Drunken beach-bonfire attendees should also take note.
- God Save the Queen (and the postal service)! In England, it is illegal to place a postage stamp bearing an image of the Queen upside down on a letter. But as long as you don’t include a return address, you’ll probably be okay.
- Hey, Lady! You just know there’s got to be a crazy, drunken story behind the law from Cannes, France that prohibits wearing a Jerry Lewis mask in public. My money is on the ensemble cast of some quirky indie film, along with a few bottles of Jägermeister and a crate full of promotional Jerry Lewis masks. Yeah, work that one out.
- Oui, oui, oui, all the way home. In France it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon. But what if it’s wearing a Jerry Lewis mask?
- No thunder from down under. If you live in (or visit) Victoria, Australia, you may have to put your hot pants on the back burner over the weekend: on Sundays it is illegal to sport pink hot pants after midday. No word on whether or not it is legal to shake your groove thing, hot pants or no.
- Move your left leg…no, the other left! In Bahrain, a male doctor may only examine a woman’s genitalia by way of a mirror. In other news, male gynecologists in Bahrain keep a lot of mirrors in their bedroom.
- Spit it out. In Singapore, it is apparently against the law to chew gum, which is probably how they won the “World’s Worst Breath” competition (fish porridge plus poor dental care equals five extra feet of personal space bubble).
- Just say no. In Sweden, like many other countries of the world, it is illegal to engage the services of a prostitute. This is an unfortunate blow (no pun intended) for prostitution, which IS legal in Sweden.
- They may be called America’s hat, but they apparently don’t hold the brains. If you ever see Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot) in British Colombia, you’d best keep your finger off the trigger. It is illegal to kill this mythical man-beast. Yes, they really went to the trouble of creating a law.
About the author: Sarah Danielson writes for Borghese Legal, a Las Vegas Trademark Attorney with a focus on intellectual property and transactional law.