Ireland Repeals Strange Laws from 1100
With the stroke of a legislative pen, the Irish Republic intends to shrug off the legacy of centuries of colonial rule when it abolishes thousands of bizarre laws dating back to the Norman invasion and before.
Under a large-scale overhaul of the statute book, only 200 laws will be retained from the period between 1100 and 1800, when the Act of Union abolished the Irish parliament in Dublin after the 1798 rebellion against British rule.
Bertie Ahern, the Prime Minister, has announced that there will be a two-month public consultation period on the plan to dump the pre-independence statutes.
Among those laws about to be consigned to history is the Tippling Act 1735, which prohibits a publican from pursuing a customer for money owed for any drink given on credit.
The law was aimed at stopping landlords demanding ale money owed to them by servants who resorted to robbing their masters to pay their debts. Another — the Adulteration Of Coffee Act 1718 — made it illegal to debase coffee for profit. Among the substan ces used by unscrupulous traders to “pad out” the sacks of coffee was ground-up sheep dung.
As coffee went out of fashion, a similar law was introduced covering tea — the Adulteration of Tea Act 1776.
The Statute of Winchester of 1285 is known as the first “Police Act”. It set up a Corps of Watchmen to arrest suspicious strangers.
Source: The Times Online.
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