The law brings to mind solemnity, official stamps and sentences you have to read three times to work out who actually owes what to whom. Yet legislation also has room for runaway bees, fruit crossing property boundaries and fish with a suspicious past.
Then there are stories about having to let strangers use your toilet and being forbidden to die in the British Parliament. Not all of them are true, but each deserves a moment of attention — and a check to see whether any legislator really had anything to do with it.
Poland: three days to find your bees — Article 182 § 1 of the Civil Code
Bees do not hand in their notice. They simply leave the hive, leaving their owner with a problem that the legislature has anticipated.
Under Article 182 § 1 of the Polish Civil Code, a swarm becomes ownerless if its owner fails to find it within three days of its swarming. The owner may enter someone else's land in pursuit, but must compensate for any damage caused.
So you may chase your bees through your neighbour's garden. You will, however, have to pay for the trampled tomatoes.
Moving into someone else's hive — Article 182 §§ 2–3 of the Civil Code
If a swarm settles in someone else's unoccupied hive, its owner may demand its return upon reimbursement of the costs. If it chooses an occupied hive instead, it becomes the property of the owner of the swarm already living there.
In the world of bees, choosing your flatmates can therefore have consequences for property ownership.
An apple on the right side of the fence — Articles 148 and 150 of the Civil Code
Fruit that falls from a tree onto neighbouring land counts as produce of that land; land designated for public use is an exception — Article 148 of the Civil Code.
A branch hanging over the fence does not, by itself, entitle you to pick the fruit. Article 150 does, however, allow you to cut off and keep overhanging branches and fruit after first giving your neighbour a reasonable period to remove them. For encroaching roots, the provision does not require such a deadline.
An apple falls quickly. Rebuilding neighbourly relations takes rather longer.
Japan: rules requiring waist measurements
In Japan, lawmakers have taken an interest not only in what people have in their wallets, but also in how many centimetres they measure around the waist. Sounds like a joke? Waist measurement really is part of a legally regulated preventive health screening programme, commonly known as the “Metabo Law”.
The programme generally covers insured people aged 40–74, with health insurers responsible for arranging the screenings. The rules provide for waist measurements, although these may be omitted in specified circumstances.
The figures of 85 cm for men and 90 cm for women are thresholds used to assess health risks. Together with other findings, including blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid levels, they may lead to a referral for guidance on diet and physical activity. They are not, however, legally permitted waist sizes, and exceeding them is not in itself an offence.
No fine will arrive for those extra centimetres. You may, however, receive an invitation to discuss your diet — and this time it will be harder to argue that your waistline is an entirely private matter.
Britain: salmon in suspicious circumstances
The British Salmon Act 1986 contains a provision with a heading worthy of a crime novel: “Handling fish in suspicious circumstances”.
It is easy to imagine the interrogation: “Why were you holding that salmon? Had you met it before?”
The purpose of the rule is practical, however. It concerns receiving fish, or helping to remove or dispose of them, when a person knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that they come from specified fishing offences.
A salmon bought lawfully for dinner can therefore go safely into the oven. The mere fact that it seems to be looking at you suspiciously does not establish a crime.
Scotland: must you let a stranger use your toilet?
Imagine a quiet afternoon in Edinburgh. Someone knocks on the door and announces: “Good afternoon. I have come to exercise my rights. Where is the bathroom?”
According to a popular story, in Scotland you must let any passer-by who asks use your toilet. Hospitality would therefore extend beyond tea to compulsory access to sanitary facilities.
Fortunately for householders, the Scottish judiciary lists this story as a myth: there is no evidence that such a duty was ever written into statute. Of course, you may help someone in urgent need. Invoking a special “toilet law”, however, will not be a convincing argument.
The British Parliament: please refrain from dying during proceedings
One of the best-known legal legends claims that it is illegal to die in the British Parliament.
It is hard not to admire the ambition of such a prohibition. Most lawmakers try to regulate people's behaviour. This one would also have to negotiate with biology.
The supposed ban on dying in Parliament is a myth. The story is sometimes linked to the Palace of Westminster's status as a royal palace and an alleged automatic entitlement to a state funeral. The Law Commission investigated the story and found no basis for such a prohibition.
Visitors can breathe a sigh of relief. At least the prospect of a fine need not trouble them.
Singapore: chewing gum gets its own regulations
In many countries, chewing gum becomes a problem only when it sticks to the sole of your shoe. Singapore addressed the issue earlier — at the point of import and sale.
Restrictions apply to the import and sale of gum, with statutory exceptions, including for certain medicinal products. The popular phrase “ban on chewing gum” therefore oversimplifies rules governing its supply.
Why such a firm approach? The reasons for introducing the restrictions included litter and disruption to public transport, such as gum being stuck to train-door sensors. A small piece of gum could cause problems far bigger than its size.
Singapore: the flush gets legal protection
In Singapore, toilet hygiene is the subject of a very specific rule. Regulation 16 of the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations requires anyone using a toilet accessible to the public and equipped with a flushing system to flush it immediately after use.
The legislature has also considered the other side of the door. Regulation 16A requires the owner or occupier of a building to provide, among other things, toilet paper, soap and clean towels or hand dryers in such toilets.
It is a fairly balanced arrangement: the person responsible for the premises provides the supplies, and the user remembers to flush. The sign saying “Please leave the toilet clean” has acquired some solid legislative backing.
Australia: how many electricians does it take to change a light bulb?
The internet's answer is: in the Australian state of Victoria, at least one, because changing a light bulb yourself is supposedly illegal.
It works brilliantly as a joke. Less well as an account of the law.
Ordinary light-bulb replacement is treated as an everyday task — Victoria's official housing guidance even lists it among tenants' responsibilities. The story that you must call an electrician every time should therefore not be presented as a current legal prohibition.
The actual restrictions concern electrical work, such as replacing a socket or switch. Energy Safe Victoria states that these jobs require a licensed electrician and that carrying them out without the necessary qualifications is illegal.
The answer to the question in the heading therefore depends on whether you are changing a light bulb or have decided to rewire half the house while you are at it.
Louisiana, USA: a pizza that could lead to a conviction
The doorbell rings. On the doorstep stands a delivery driver holding a pizza nobody ordered. A neighbour is laughing behind the curtains. In Louisiana, that prank can end up costing considerably more than extra cheese.
Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:68.6 prohibit intentionally ordering goods or services for another person when specified conditions are met together: the recipient did not authorise the order, does not live with the person placing it, the delivery is not a gift, and the recipient is expected to bear an unagreed cost of payment or return. The person placing the order must also intend to harass or annoy.
A violation carries a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.
This is therefore not a ban on culinary surprises. A prepaid pizza sent as a gift is quite different from ten unsolicited deliveries that an unpopular neighbour is expected to pay for.
The moral? Before ordering someone a “Hawaiian revenge”, check the statute as well as the address.
Samoa: forgot your wife's birthday? Apparently the police are coming
According to a popular online story, forgetting your wife's birthday is a criminal offence in Samoa. The first occasion supposedly brings a warning; a repeat offence could even mean time in custody.
The imagined interrogation has promise: “Do you admit the offence?” “I remembered it was sometime in June…”
Fortunately for forgetful husbands, this is a myth. The Samoa Observer checked the story, and a local lawyer quoted by the newspaper described it as fabricated.
Criminal liability is therefore off the table. Domestic accountability remains, with penalties that no code sets out. A bouquet of flowers may count as a mitigating factor.
The law has a sense of humour. The internet has an even bigger one
Surprising laws often turn out to be sensible answers to very specific problems. Someone had to decide who owns bees after they move house, who gets an apple after it falls and where exactly the fish on offer came from.
Yet not every colourful story about foreign lawmakers survives an encounter with the source. Before sharing the next “world's strangest law”, it is worth checking whether it exists. Otherwise, we may release a legal myth into the world ourselves. And the legislature has not even given us three days to find it.
Sources
Poland — Civil Code, Articles 148, 150 and 182
Britain — Salmon Act 1986, section 32
Scotland — Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, Weird laws
British Parliament — discussion of the Law Commission’s findings
Singapore — chewing gum imports
Singapore — National Library Board, Chewing gum ban
Singapore — Public Cleansing Regulations, 16 and 16A
Australia — Energy Safe Victoria
Samoa Observer — Samoan law against forgetful husbands goes viral