h a l f b a k e r yPoint of hors d'oevre
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I got that word barred from google translate so I hope it's the right one.
When you commit a crime but don't get cought in time, the crime might be barred and you cannot be prosecuted anymore.
I propose the same thing for the laws itself.
If in your country nobody has stolen anything for say
ten years, the law is considerd barred. It would then stop being illegal to steal something.
This would apply for all laws with different lengths of time. Theft ten years, murder 50 years, depending on the severity of the punishments.
http://www.dumblaws.com/
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 12 2012]
Barred...
https://www.google....ex.html%3B576%3B432
...sand bass [normzone, Apr 22 2014]
Everyone must toe the barre - it's the law
http://rainonsunday...ads/2010/07/bar.jpg
[normzone, Apr 23 2014]
[link]
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Would be a useful housekeeping law, insofar as it would automatically tidy up the statute books of say, witchcraft laws, or other laws relating to antiquated technology. By this method, the various honourable members of our respective national legislative bodies will have more time to spend on petty oneupcuntship. |
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I hear in some places it is illegal to operate a vacuum cleaner without a permit. But it is being done all the time. So that law would seem to be needed more now than ever, because the rate of infraction is sky high. |
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// witchcraft laws, or other laws relating to antiquated technology // |
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Excellent. That means it will be legal to resume bear-baiting, trading in slaves, shooting the welsh with longbows between sunset and sunrise, and piracy on the High Seas against the Spanish. |
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Does this mean that the English Crown gets Aquitaine and Burgundy back ? |
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//That means it will be legal to resume bear-baiting,
trading in slaves, shooting the welsh with longbows
between sunset and sunrise, and piracy on the High
Seas against the Spanish.// |
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Wait! You're saying all those things are illegal at the
moment? |
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Yes, but nowhere in the civilised world, so no need to worry. |
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It would make more sense to remove the law if no-one had been convicted. |
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By the way, did you realise that a jury can overturn laws? They can decide that the defendant technically broke the law, but is innocent nonetheless - for instance, because they consider that the law is an unjust one. |
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This would go a long way toward clearing stupid-laws from the books. [link] |
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Oh, and when too much time has elapsed for a crime to be prosecuted I think it falls under statute of limitations. |
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//That means it will be legal to resume
bear-baiting, trading in slaves// - slavery only became illegal in the UK in 2010 so you'll probably have to wait a bit for the law to lapse under this proposal. |
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Laws should to expire, even if used for only a single prosecution - conviction. A law written that narrowly is going to be inefficient and uneconomic law. |
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The legislature/ admin. can always write a better version, if they feel cheated out of their power. |
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A more efficient way would be that any lawmaker
who proposes a new law must also scour the books
for an outdated law (or two) which can be struck
from the books at the same time. |
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[+] There are tens of thousands of little crimes created in various laws and regulations. It's almost impossible (in practical terms) to know them all. |
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In Roman-Dutch jurisdictions, the term for the expiry of claims etc. is "prescription" for what it's worth, and I think laws should also prescribe - at very least, in some cases. That way the unknowability of the law diminishes. |
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Where do all these crimes come from? |
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We demand that the politicians "dosomething" about some hobby horse issue, and the easiest way to simulate this, is to make something illegal. Laws are made, and we stop complaining, and the politicians can go back to the golf course. |
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The canonical example of the potential for evil that this holds is the solution found for the alcohol problem in the 20's in the USA. Need I say more? |
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//slavery only became illegal in the UK in 2010 // |
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No, what you mean is that slavery only became a distinct offense at that time; it has been unlawful since 1772 and, in the intervening time, was already illegal under provisions covering kidnapping, false imprisonment, etc. |
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