London abounds with all manner of ludicrous laws, and not all of
these curious statutes have been relegated to the past. Despite the
efforts of the Law Commission there are medieval laws that are
still in force, and the City of London and its livery companies
have their own legal oddities. Laws are made in the capital because
parliament is here; so are the Old Bailey, the Law Courts, the
House of Lords and, now, the Supreme Court. The privy council,
which sometimes has to decide cases, also sits in London, and there
were other courts that used to sit in London, from prize courts
concerning war booty to ecclesiastical courts. Having maintained
its 'ancient rights and freedoms' under Magna Carta, the City felt
free to enact its own laws, many of which seem to have had to do
with what people could wear. Until quite recently, for example, a
man could be arrested for walking down the street wearing a wig, a
robe and silk stockings - unless he was a judge. And all human
folly has been paraded through the law courts of London, to the
extent that it is difficult to know where the serious business of
administering justice ends and where farce begins. As law is made
in the courtroom as well as in parliament and elsewhere, judges
like to keep a firm hand, but sometimes so-called jibbing juries
will simply not do what they are told. All sorts of oddities get
swept up into the law. Legislators particularly love to pass Acts
about sex. If sexual services are being offered in a London massage
parlour, for example, a police officer must then search the
premises for school children. According to The Children and Young
Persons Act of 1933 it is against the law for children and 'yowling
persons' between the age of four and sixteen to frequent a brothel.
A writ was introduced under both Edward III and Henry IV to ban
lawyers from parliament as there were too many of them, the reason
being that it was easier for a lawyer to spend his time in London
attending parliament that it was for a knight of the shires. But
because parliament was already packed with lawyers it was difficult
to make any such rule stick. Then an effective way of excluding
them was found. They were denied the wages paid to members in those
days. Sadly, these days, parliament and the government are packed
with lawyers once again. And they are being paid. A law passed in
1540 - and still in force today - makes it illegal for barbers in
the City of London to practise surgery; with impeccable
impartiality, the Act also forbids surgeons to cut hair. Finally,
never forget that under the Vagrancy Act of 1824, you can be
convicted of being 'an idle and disorderly person, or a rogue,
vagabond, or incorrigible rogue'. The same act also outlaws people
'professing to tell fortunes', including 'palmistry'. Under the
Act, it is an offence merely to be suspected.
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