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We don't!

There are apparently many old laws still on statute books around the world which have not actually been enforced for decades or even centuries.

Until fairly recently, there was an old law in England which required any motor vehicle driving along a public road to have a man carrying a red flag to walk in front of it!

In the area where I lived in the 1980s there was somebody who was trying to get a neighbor into court on some old witchcraft law that had never been repealed. It was like something you imagine out of 17th century Salem!

Some more examples

Mike, You must take the prize for resurrecting old posts!

Old laws... There was a clean-up, in the early seventies, of some of these anachronistic gems. Apparently up until that time, the Isle of Man still carried a statute that required a Manxman to kill a Scotsman on sight!! This could have ruined the northern tourist trade and put the Ardrossan sailings seriously in jeopardy!

Checking your site Paul, the UK courts threw out an appeal by a furniture chain that only sold carrots on a Sunday (at a premium price) but gave away a free lounge suite!

Hutch,
I like to wander around the older ECN topics and have a look at what was going on back then, and if it is appropriate or not, reply to it, prizes or not, there are stillsome real gems!.

Hey Paul,
It's odd that you should mention Witchcraft,
We have a guy over here(not sure if you've heard of him) he is called the Wizard of Christchurch, later named the Wizard of New Zealand.
But, there was a church that moved in down the road from his house and incited this really old law that said that there was to be no agent of the Devil, within 3km of a church building (this law dates back to 1861).
Oddly enough the Wizards house burned down 2 days later, under suspicions of arson.
He lost a whole heap of really old books, part of a collection that he had been building for 40-50 years.

On the DIY topic. I know that most reasonable electrical wholesalers around here in Ireland simply will not sell a lot of gear to anyone other than electricians. They'll sell sockets, cable, trunking, plugs, etc etc but they're unlikely to hand you a 3 phase distribution board over the counter.

There may potentially be a future problem as retailers increasingly have a duty of care and may be required to provide full instructions with anything they sell. So I can see the "trade only" policy getting a lot tighter if any law suits do happen when someone installs their own Hager board and burns down their house.

Yes, I think I read about him in a NZ travel guide. Doesn't he get dressed up in wizard's garb and go around the streets of Christchurch?

* Totally irrelevant, but while on the subject of the SOuth Island:

Question on a recent general knowledge show here:
What city in the South Island of New Zealand is known as the Edinburgh of the South?

Contestant's answer: Auckland!

Paul,
The Wizard of Christchurch has his own podium in Cathedral Square, from there at about 11am, he gives his ideas on the world, casts spells and makes rain, in any place in the world that he deems it necessary. (If it rained at your place today, this guy is more than likely to blame!)
There was a big stir over here a few years back, during the Census survey, he refused to be counted as a Citizen of NZ and even rowed out to the edge of the 150 mile Economic Zone, to avoid the thing!.
The guy is a legend, I realise he's a wee bit different, but hey what would life be like, if we were all the same, eh?.

There seems to be a growing number of people these days whose main attitude toward the government is simply "Leave me alone."

Seeing the intrusive way the government tries to keep track of everyone and everything these days, I admit to having become one of those people in recent years.

I'd like an opt-out clause: Stop charging me exorbitant taxes and putting ever-more Draconian laws into place, and in return I will defend my own property, look after myself as I see fit, and I will not request welfare payments or other government hand-outs.

If only..........