The long arm

They say that the law is an ass. Oh we need laws in order that society can operate in a civilised and balanced fashion, but some of the laws that we live with are at best stupid and at worst unworkable. Laws are laid down in Parliament and ratified by the unelected upper classes, and more and more rules and regulations get added to the statute books with each passing day.

Laws are introduced to maintain some sort of status quo or to protect various groups within society and because the world is changing, the laws need to be juggled to allow for this change. It would seem logical then that out of date or inappropriate laws would be removed or made null and void but this does not seem to happen. The books get thicker and thicker and the job of enforcing those laws gets more and more complex.

I am no expert in these things and as ever I may well be talking complete rubbish but as far as i know, it is illegal to urinate in the street. Now that is sensible unless one is driven by desperation and lack of public utilities. The thought of streets running in pee is not an appealing one and so most people abide by this. Allegedly however there is a loophole in this law that dates back to the days when we all drove carts. Should one get caught short, it is still legal to relieve oneself against one of the wheels of your vehicle. However I can't remember which one and so there is a 75% chance that I'd be breaking the law if I tried it.

Another silly and unenforcable law forbids the purchaser of a book or other copyrighted material from lending that item to another person. This does not apply to libraries but in principle each time I borrow or lend a book I am breaking the law. The laws on sunday trading are ridiculous and date back to the days when people went to church before going to the pub and didn't want alcohol to be available to the unbelievers while they were on their knees.

There must be dozens of ways that each of us breaks the law on a day to day basis and i suppose that it is just as well that the average bobby is as ignorant of the law as most of us.