Legislative history research is a tedious process. Even though it’s important to do this legal research to discover the legislative intent behind certain legal statutes, it might feel kind of pointless since it’s so frustrating when you’re in law school.
If that’s how you’re starting to think, be strong. There are much more pointless things out there in the field of law. Here are some of the strangest, most seemingly-pointless legal statutes to make you feel better.
Greece Bans Video Games.
Could you imagine not being able to destress with a fierce round of video games? Well, Grecians have such troubles thanks to legal statutes from 2003 that prohibit all video games. The laws were conceived as a way of putting a stop to illegal gambling. Originally the legal statutes prohibited video games in Internet cafes, but were then expanded because it was too difficult to differentiate between harmless games and illegal ones.
Pillows: German Passive Weapons.
Apparently, German muggers and thugs armed with pillows assaulted too many people, leading to legal statutes that declared pillows as “passive weapons.” Such laws might be be understandable if the pillows were filled with rocks or heavy bolts and screws rather than down or synthetic foam, but there haven’t been too many cases in the United States of innocent passersby being attacked by pillow-wielding villains for these legal statues to make sense.
Japan’s Honor Law.
One of the most important values in Japanese culture is family. This is why an elder brother can, in the eyes of both the law and honor, ask for his younger brother’s girlfriend’s hand in marriage. According to the legal statutes, both must agree it. Though Americans are respectful of their elders, they most certainly aren’t to this degree, making this law seem quite absurd.
Anti-Nose Picking Laws.
Israel is internationally known for its toughness and resilience with its seemingly never ending war with neighbors, making it centric in many a controversy. Such grit has led the country to enforce citizens from picking their nose on the Sabbath. The legal statutes exists not because it’s a gross thing to do, but because the habit could lead to the loss of nose hair, which would violate the religious code of sanctity.
These are just a few of the most seemingly bonkers legal statutes in the world. If you have any that you’d like to add that weren’t on this list, feel free to share in the comments.