NationStates

What are some strange and/or outdated laws in your nation?

OOC:I Couldn't find a recent thread on this topic, and so here we are!

In Zentata, due to the unique transition from a monarchy into a democracy, and the practice of Zentatan law is extremely complex, with some laws dating back to the first dynasty, that have never been technically repealed, but most would likely cause a serious battle in court today, due to more recent laws superseding/replacing them. Here are a few relics:

Book of Zentatan Law, Vol 4.2, Section 5, Chapter 64, Law 16 (it should be noted that this is the 16th law in the chapter, not in the section or volume), 465 BC

Let it be declared: Chalk cylinders being imported into Zentata, that are of a color close, or matching white, must be made no longer than a 8th a meter, or be subject to a extra tariff of 6% Zentis of the length of the chalk. -Law Created and Declared by the Crown Prince Adamus, in the Name of Our Emperor.

Analysis: This law was created after the Zentatan chalk industry could not keep up with its neighbors, and was failing due to their inability to create large and long amounts of chalk cylinders, which were in high demand for interior decoration in mausoleums at the time. As such, CP Adamus decided to tax the cylinders. The reason for the max non-tariff-able length has been lost to time. This law is technically no longer in use, as chalk as a building material is subject to strict restrictions, and per a later law, can only be imported as cubes/rectangular prisms.

New Book of Zentatan Law, Vol 46, Section 2, Chapter 3, Law 12.

Let it be declared: Moose shall not be hunted in March, except if the hunter is a Zentatan Male over the age of 64. -Law Created by Gerald D Smith, and voted in to effect by the 1889 Summer Assembly of Parliament.

Analysis: The famously sexist MP G. Smith was a supposed conservationist, and thought that females and young men hunted more then old men. This was not true,at the time and so in the interest on conservation he prevented these people from hunting during a random month. He was 65, and liked to hunt moose.

OOC: More to Come

While the Federation of Lillorainen has only few strange/outdated laws due to not having been founded before 1981, there is quite a number of this kind of laws on state level and below.
A few examples:

• The State Constitution of Rigesöer mandates the 'protection and preservation of the people's Germanic blood and heritage'. This law has its roots in the late 19th century, where Lillorainian Nationalism dominated the public debate and culture, and has no practical effect. A similarly 'useless' law was struck out of the constitution of the Free State of Visholm in late 2019.
• In the State of Terra Bianca, it is forbidden to back up on a distance of more than eight meters, when driving a car. With the road rules practically having been the same all over the Federation since 1981, this was somehow overlooked and remained on the books, but it has no effect.
• In the State of Storöer, rooms must not be rented out, if the window is in the north, because the rent payer might not receive enough sunlight in their room, if they never leave it (as on the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is never seen in the north).
• Coinciding with the above, the State of Nessovia forbids publically accessible buildings to have rooms with windows only in the north.
• In the State of Vedjading, it is illegal to dance on railroad crossings. (Ironically, railroads that aren't being crossed by a street are not covered by this law.)
• In the City of Laerdonk, Rathenia, it is an offense to mispronounce the city's name in public. This is a result of the 'Rhenish longification E', which, counter to what a non-Rhenish speaker of German would expect, longifies the previous vowel instead of turning it into an umlaut (so it's Laaaardonk, not Läärdonk!), a frequent phenomenon throughout some regions of Lillorainen. In 2017, Mayor Harald Duttweiler tried to actively enforce it by charging offenders by a fine of 3000 Marks (~3600 NSD), but the State Supreme Court rendered this unconstitutional.

In a dictatorship-era law, all animals that were to be adopted by a family must be approved by the country's leader himself. The law was adopted in 1984, for unknown reasons. Some historians believed that it was due to late dictator Terrell Howard's passion for animals, with him having a private zoo, and historians estimating that he had around 70-300 pets during his lifetime. While the dictatorship fell in 1987, the law has never been officially repealed, and has not been strictly enforced. However, the signature of the President of Helowi was included on pet adoption certificate's until 2008.

In 1974, A law was passed by the dictatorship banning people of non-christian faiths from holding public office. This was due to most opposition to the dictatorship coming from Baháʼí, muslim, and buddhist faiths, and the law was passed to solidify the power of the dictatorship. As well as the previous laws, the law wasn't officially repealed after the fall of the dictatorship, although wasn't officially enforced. However, in 2011, far-right political leader Jeremy Pryor called for Muslim candidate Husniya El-Amin, who was a senate appointee, to be arrested. Pryor used the law as the basis for his statement. While El-Amin was never arrested, the media backlash against the law caused government action, and a bill repealing the law was passed in the house 398-2, and the senate unanimously, and President Martie Lyan signed the bill into law on November 8th, 2011.

List of weird laws:

You can't walk your dog on a Sunday in Major Ruritane.
In Ruritane, there are dry counties, but the meaning is different. In Ruritanois dry counties, alcohol is allowed but pork is forbidden.
In certain parts of Sakhalin, you cannot run into a church and say, "I'm gonna whip you with my ugly stick"!
In many cities in Southern Africa, it is illegal for men to walk around topless.
In Constructed City, it is required for cat owners to declaw their pets. This is the worst law, because declawing is animal cruelty.
In certain neighborhoods in Lutetia, it is unlawful to vomit, burp, or fart on a Saturday.

Due to Thermodolia’s long history there are several strange laws still on the books.

One in particular allows the President to claim any whale or Porpoise that beaches itself on Thermodolia’s beaches.

The law originated in the time of the Empire of Thermodolia for unknown reasons. When Thermodolia became a republic in 1832 the law remained on the books. To this day it’s still on the books and hasn’t been removed though it hasn’t been enforced in over two centuries.

Another is that any wooden barrels imported into Thermodolia must have a tariff of 30% levied upon them. The law originated back in the 1100s to protect Thermodolias domestic barrel makers. The law is technically not enforce as wooden barrels aren’t as widely used anymore, other than in the brewing and alcohol industry.

In Aikoland, it is illegal for any woman to enter the Palais d'Allais (the primary residence of the Royal Family) while wearing men's clothing. The law originates to the mid-18th century and, most typically, would be punished by mere expulsion from the palace until one changed to proper attire for a woman, but repeat offenders could be punished by permanent expulsion from the palace.

Despite the law remaining on the books, no woman has been expelled from the Palais d'Allais for wearing men's clothing since 1922, when the Countess du Valier was expelled for wearing trousers by the Royal Guard. Despite this expulsion, she was allowed to return to the palace without needing to change into 'proper' attire by the order of Emperor Henri VII, who said, 'While I may not fully understand the need for some women to wear the clothing of the male sex, it does not affect myself nor do I feel that it degrades this palace for them to enter while wearing these clothes.'

The Confederacy of Galactic Powers takes great care to only let useful laws through. But one example of a strange law is the law prohibiting a droid from marrying a life-form. Nobody knows why it was passed. There was no point for it. Nobody wanted it. but it's there.

The Queen of Vallermoore may not force anybody to take on the role of their daughter without their consent. This was put in centuries ago when Queen Yocasta the First's daughter died and she went insane, forcibly adopting other people's daughters and having them murdered when they failed to act like her own daughter did, leading to her overthrow after too many people got angry about it.

Before 2020, there was a crime on the books called "vilification of religion", which made it illegal to desecrate holy objects, offend religious beliefs, or act indecently in a place of worship. The law dated back to the 19th century and carried a maximum punishment of 3 years in prison and a fine of 10,000 guilders, but it lay dormant until very recently, when the police arrested a man for insulting the Islamic Koran and tried to charge him with this crime. However, as soon as the case caught the attention of Grand Duchess Veroniek, she immediately abolished this law and a couple of similar ones (desecration of state symbols, insulting the dignity of a head of state, etc) that were also made a long time ago but unnecessary today.

It is forbidden for any citizen or Freed Resident of Gandoor to organize, lead, or otherwise participate in a protest within a distance of five hundred feet of the Sovereign of the Nzardom of Gandoor.

This law was passed in the early 19th century and prohibits protesting within five hundred feet of the Gandoorese monarch. Our nation's monarchy was abolished in 1902 and the modern Democratic Republic has existed since 1904. (We also no longer recognize non-metric units and have no done so since the passage of the Metric Act 1952).

The law remains on the books simply because, when Nzard William II abdicated and dissolved the Gandoorese monarchy, all Gandoorese government authority was transferred to the revolutionaries and, since a system of laws was already in place, it was decided that, unless specifically repealed, all laws of the Nzardom of Gandoor would remain in force for both the interim post-revolutionary government and the eventual republic that would be created. And well, this law has never been repealed, although it is obviously unenforceable.

Somewhat related (as it is mentioned in the previously mentioned law), but the status of 'Freed Resident of Gandoor', while still mentioned in various laws, no longer officially exists under Gandoorese law.

The status was created in 1783 as part of the Declaration on the Prohibition on the Practice of Slavery and was granted to all the newly freed slaves in Gandoor, signifying that they were granted the right to reside and work within Gandoor, with the status passing to their children and other descendants for as long as it continued to exist.

The status of 'Freed Resident of the Realm' ceased to exist in legal terms in 1903, when the interim revolutionary government passed the Citizenship Act 1903, which declared that anyone who was born in Gandoor (or what is now Gandoorese territory) on or before 1 March 1903 was henceforth considered to have been a citizen of Gandoor by birth.

The status of 'Freed Resident of the Realm' is sometimes compared to being a permanent resident, as both allow a non-citizen the right to live and work in our nation, but with the key differences being that:
A. One cannot pass being a permanent resident to their children, a child is either a citizen or non-citizen at birth

B. Until the passage of the Citizenship Act 1903, there was no method for a Freed Resident of the Realm to become a citizen. Unlike the indigenous people of Gandoor, who could be granted citizenship on an individual basis if they were fully assimilated into the European-based culture of the majority (except for the Ganba people, who were unconditionally granted citizenship as part of the 1886 agreement seeing their independent Kingdom of Ganbano becoming the partially self-governing Descar Territory), no former slave or their descendents could be granted Gandoorese citizenship, as it was felt that they (almost entirely being Indonesian, Filipino, or Chinese) could not ever be assimilated into the majority culture of the nation.

Andaristiva is mostly too young to have developed outdated laws and too liberal to place arbitrary restrictions on its people, however, there are a handful of strange laws.

Most strange Andaristivan laws date from when the people were still getting used to being part of a proper nation with an actual government, which led to the government passing odd laws (referred to by the common public- and occasional actual legal personnel- as the 'joke laws') merely because they could. These laws were usually recognized by the people as the jokes they were- although the people still complied with some laws, either because they saw the laws as amusing enough to obey or because they noticed an actual reason to obey them.

An example of an 'obeyed joke law' is the Jessamin Youth Dance Law: it is legally required for all persons older than 12 and younger than 23 residing in the city of Jessamin, disregarding reasonable circumstances either personal (including but not limited to religious beliefs, disability or having recently moved house) or city-wide (including but not limited to natural disaster, terrorist attack or widespread infectious disease), to drink and dance in Jessamin's public squares on Friday nights, or their household will be fined one mirinna for each absent reveller. The government keeps this law on the books as it reduces the amount of youth crime in Jessamin (and it boosts several industries, such as music and alcohol), the older generation lets them keep the law as it makes sure they know where their teenage children are on Friday nights, the in-between generation thinks the law fosters community spirit, Jessamin musicians support the law as it means they always have an audience, university-age people agree with the law as they like an excuse to party and they'd probably be out anyway (and nothing says they have to stay all night, so they can leave early if they want to do something else), 16-to-18-year-olds like it as it means their parents cannot legally forbid them from going out on Friday nights, and 13-to-15-year-olds like it as it is a loophole in the law forbidding under-16s from purchasing alcohol.

The era of the joke laws came to an end after the passing of a law making organ donation compulsory, which almost led to the overthrow of the government by objectors who took it more seriously than anticipated. The objectors were barely stopped by an official supplying them with 'non-donor cards' to allow them to refuse to donate.

The aftermath was that the passing of joke laws was restricted to a set of 'Invalid Days' where no law passed on a given date is valid. These vary with regions and years, but the most common invalid days are the Transition Time- the traditional time said to be placed between one year and the next, which had been considered to be a state holiday even before the Organ Riot- and the False Information Festival created to commemorate the Riot. (The traditional thing for lawmakers to do on Invalid Days is visit hospitals.) Organ donation is permitted by default according to law, but bodies must be identified before donation to make sure that their medical files don't have the 'unharvestable A' on them. (The government refuses to reveal what the A stands for, but local comedians have made entertaining guesses ending in 'ole')

Many nations have meaningless laws caused by historical events. This nation has historical events caused by meaningless laws. (And before you ask- no, Andaristiva is not a former Soviet state.)

/bump

- Theoretically, the President could establish a state religion by way of proclamation, as the Constitution is silent on this matter. Parliament, however, may not.
- There is still a law on the books that requires drivers of motor vehicles to have a person walking in front with a red flag during the day, or a red lantern at night. This has not been enforced since horses fell out of fashion for transportation.

Struggling for Truth is considered a symptom of Schizophrenia - still enforced.

Jokes have to be approved by the Department of Jokes - not enforced after 1993, still legally a law.

Conducting an Orchestra is considered Capitalist - obsolete as of 1991.

Museums Of Atheism that teach people the evils of religion - not enforced after 1997, still legally a law.

Unemployment is illegal - still enforced in select towns and cities, not enforced widely.

The Grapes Of Wrath is banned for showing poor people with cars - still enforced.

Plants have to follow Socialist principles - still enforced, but obviously obsolete.

It is illegal to stop clapping for a set amount of time after a Soviet leader is finished with a speech - obsolete after de-Stalinization, still legally a law.

I'll bump this, even though it's been a while

It is unlawful to have non consensual relations with animals. How do you know if it's consensual don't fuckin ask me.
Selling products of american origin is illegal even if its consumption is legal.

Apparently, there's no prisons, but we have capital punishment and corporal punishment, so I guess we have no crime because we just torture lawbreakers ( ? )

An attack on the Sultan or his family is still punished by beheading. The last one was carried out in 2019 when an obviously crazy man came to the palace dressed as a woman, and climbed a fence to "petition the Sultan".

Yawkland has a lot of strange laws regarding yachting and sailing that were developed in the 1880s that are still on the books. A lot of these aren't enforced.

TurtleShroomian law has outlawed masturbation since prior to 1796 AD.

This law is still on the books, and it is still enforced, but only passively. TurtleShroom does not go undercover or monitor citizens for it, and have not done so for generations. The rule is that if evidence of masturbation happens to be uncovered during an unrelated investigation, it can be prosecuted.

In the eighteenth century, the punishment hypothetically carried a maximum punishment of castration and release and the normal punishment was no more than a year in prison. Castration for that act was only applied to clergy and government officials. The Fascist Servants revived this provision for government officials, Freikorps officers, and the Fascist Servant Party itself, lasting from 1933 AD to 1969 AD.

The castration and prison provision was amended to no more than three days' jail time, or wearing a chastity belt for a month, in the nineteenth century. That reform TS began to switch to societal pressure and shaming to enforce very petty breaches of sexual morality such as this. TS had bigger fish to fry, like sodomy (of any orientation) and pornography, which are vigorously enforced to this day.

The last change to the masturbation law was in 1970 AD, the year after the Fascist Servants finally lost their control of the Congress. Castration was abolished for public officials and replaced with forced resignation. All other penalties, including imprisonment, were abolished and replaced with fines of no more than two hundred Skillets ($50 USD) and a requirement to issue an open letter of apology.

Today, masturbation is an infraction. It carries no imprisonment and leaves no stain (pun intended) on a criminal record unless it's done more than ten times, in which it becomes a misdemeanor.

The last successful prosecution under the law was in 2000 AD, where a person being investigated for grand theft was found with dozens of tissues containing his seed in the bathroom trash can. Generally, the ease of disposal makes the law impossible to enforce. Even TurtleShroom thinks actively prosecuting masturbation is too far.

In 2011 AD, the Supreme General Court tossed out a masturbation conviction based on "evidence" comprised of nineteen empty bottles of lotion, glass cleaner, an empty box of tissues, and a copy of Gold Chains for Old Men Magazine in a trash can in the person's kitchen. This was discovered during an investigation by the Ministry of the Enforcement of the Prohibition, looking into a combination marijuana and alcohol possession case.

His defense- the accused representing himself with paralegal help as right of counsel -successfully argued that lotion, glass cleaner, and tissues are primarily used for hygiene and sanitation. There were no soiled tissues recovered, no DNA traces of his seed on anything (let alone the magazine) and that you cannot use glass cleaner to mop up a magazine. The computer monitor and his browser history turned up nothing.

When his case was thrown out, the Supreme General Court ruled unanimously that he was entitled to compensation of legal fees and dismissed the case with prejudice. The policeman appointed as the prosecutor was forced to resign from court proceedings and never represent anyone again.

With double jeopardy in effect, the victorious defendant, at his press conference, announced that he had in fact committed that crime and that he was bisexual. He had a smug, poop-eating grin all the way to the jailhouse on his eight month two week conviction for drugs. He now lives in the C'tan exclave of Gerry.

The Holy Catholic State does not have any employment equality laws. Both men and women are expected to conform to traditional gender roles. For women, this means putting family before career, so if a woman marries or bears children, she is expected to give up her job and assume the role of full-time housewife. In some companies, marrying or falling pregnant is grounds for instant dismissal if you're a woman. No such thing as "maternity/paternity leave" because either: 1) you're a man, so your wife should be caring for the baby, or 2) you're a woman, so you should be caring for the baby. Fornication (conceiving a child out of wedlock) and divorce are illegal, so single parents are viewed with suspicion unless they have a legitimate excuse (spouse passed away, marriage annuled by Church, etc).