For example, is there a ‘laws dot gov’ kinda URL I can go to and type “importing raccoons to Northern Ireland to create a self-sustaining population” into the search bar?
Or maybe something like a multi-volume book series I can check at the library to see if “raccoon husbandry; N. Ireland” is mentioned?
Maybe an AI chatbot on the local council’s website that I can ask “is it legal to raise baby raccoons by feeding them from miniature wheelie bins to teach them where food comes from and how to open the lids”?
I’m not about to do anything [potentially] illegal, I’m just curious.
Cheers! 🦝
Germany has a website containing all its statutes: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ However, even Germans have difficulty understanding some of the paragraphs, as they are written in bureaucratic and legal language. Have fun!
“Oh… It’s not illegal? Maaaaan… Now I gotta figure out something else to do this Saturday. 😮💨”
Or:
“they forgot to make this illegal? Really?diabolical laughter” “Are you ready? from ‘friends on the other side’ starts playing”
In the US, no. This is why lawyers get paid so much money to research and analyze whether their clients’ activities may or may not be legal. For many areas of the law, relevant statutes, regulations, and agency interpretations are publicly available and may be compiled and discussed at a high level in a treatise. However, a specific question or set of facts (such as raccoon husbandry in a specific location) would require research or analysis beyond what a treatise might describe. And treatises are expensive, full of legal jargon, and usually not publicly available. Welcome to the Law!
Isn’t that partly because the US has like 52 sets of law (50 states, DC, Fed) and maybe more (County/Parish, etc)?
Yep. But when two laws are in conflict, the higher law wins. So state laws supersede local laws, and federal laws beat state laws. Of course, there is also weirdness where the higher body might just choose not to argue with the lower body over conflicting laws, like with cannabis legalization.
higher body might just choose not to argue with the lower body over conflicting laws, like with cannabis legalization
Reminder that marijuana is still federally illegal.
If you are a non-citizen, you could get deported for posession of marijuana, even if your state “legalized” it, because it would still be a crime under federal laws.
So, pro tip: gain citizenship first, then, after you’ve been sworn in and got the citizenship papers, then you can safely smoke weed…
(Yes, people do get placed into deportation proceedings for possession weed, especially under this current shitty administration)
Oh yeah, definitely! Even in legal states, if you’re on federal property (like National Forests), possession is still a crime. Gotta be careful with stuff like that
I meant that they aren’t arguing over it as in the DOJ isn’t suing states over having legalized it. Although if I recall correctly, the Obama admin DEA did conduct raids on medicinal dispensaries in states where it was legal
It gets weird and messy fast
From the article on Public.Resource.Org:
Malamud called for increased awareness that Westlaw was a commercial broker of the United States Federal Reporter, Federal Supplement, and Federal Appendix. While Westlaw had been adding value to the content by indexing it with their proprietary West American Digest System and accompanying summaries, the purchase of their products was the only way to access much of the public domain material they hosted.
The UK has https://www.legislation.gov.uk/
It only covers statute law, not common law, but most things are codified by statute today.
I would be surprised if there was a country that don’t have their all laws set in the paper form.
But, regarding Finland: You’re thinking of http://finlex.fi/ .
There’s for example this gem, telling about how you should take care of the hops trellis the law requires you to maintain! :)
(Please don’t tell anyone, but I do not actually have a hops trellis! I’m breaking the law.)
It’s also helpful if you want to know how to let your pigs to run in an acorn forest. Or if your bees escape and land inside someone else’s tree.Also, the beginning words of our Criminal Code are a bit, well, outdated? Here goes: https://www.finlex.fi/en/legislation/1889/39-001?language=swe&highlightId=798156&highlightParams={"type"%3A"BASIC"%2C"search"%3A"rikoslaki"}
(I’m linking the Swedish-language versions because I believe a machine translator does a better job translating to European languages from Swedish than from Finnish)
I would be surprised if there was a country that don’t have their all laws set in the paper form.
The anglosaxon school of law is more case-based than build on written law like e.g. in continental Europe.
This is amazing. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew that you still had the old Criminal Code left, but never had I read it. Here in Sweden we have since swapped that one for a hopefully less outdated law. Here is a English translation for those interested:
We Alexander the Third, by the Grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia, Tsar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, etc., etc., etc., do hereby solemnly declare: At the submissive request of the Estates of Finland, We hereby ratify the following penal code for the Grand Duchy of Finland, concerning the introduction of which, as also concerning the execution of punishment, a special decree is issued:
(That’s a machine translation, I couldn’t be bothered to do it myself. But I must say I’m impressed of how well it handled the very old school Swedish)
Also, regarding the other law, byggningabalken or Rakennuskaari, we apparently removed the really funny section about the mandatory ownership of a hops trellis in 1860 here in Swede. To bad really. But the rest of that law still applies here. Also, on behalf of the Finnish state I would like to charge you a fine of one riksdal for not maintaining your hops trellis the last year.
And finally, in regards to OPs question, in Sweden we have the official government site https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/ and then https://lagen.nu/ which is a bit more user friendly
I fumbles into a rabbit hole. Both of those laws are from 1736, which I have heard before. But apparently, the trade code from that year is also still in effect. It isn’t nearly as funny (although I didn’t check the Finnish version that thoroughly, so there might be some gems there that I missed) but there are some highlights:
Chapter 14 is titled “About Mercenary” (at least that’s how I interpret “Om legohjon”) but the chapter is left completely empty. They chapter is completely removed in the Finnish version.
Also, there is chapter 3 about what one shall do to receive the right to trade and become a part of the burgher class. Removed in Finland
Finally, you may not use boats, shipyards or aircraft in a pledge (is that correct English?). This is revised in the Finnish version, and the same prohibition doesn’t exist there. This is chapter 10 § 7 for those interested
Switzerland has Fedlex. For example here’s the constitution.
Korea: literally that https://law.go.kr/
It even has English translations and an AI chatbot
That twitch streamer should’ve read this before traveling to SK, lol
(Not naming the dude, y’all know the one)
I know Canada has the Canadian Criminal Code. My friend had a copy for college and I leafed through it once to read some laws about weapons. It’s all in one big book so it is relatively accessible to find stuff but it obviously doesn’t cover traffic law, provincial, or municipal laws.
Bit of a tangent, and also very much IIRC…
In the US saying “sorry” can possibly be construed as evidence towards admission to guilt of the crime, whereas in Canada there’s a “Sorry Clause” of some sort specifically stating that saying that apologizing isn’t necessarily an admission of guilt.
As a Canadian I kinda got a kick out that. I live somewhere many people still thank the bus drivers as they exit the bus.
It’s actually a provincial act, which I find even funnier because it means each province legislated the protection separately. Here’s a few of them:
Ontario - Apology Act (2009)
B.C. - Apology Act (2006)
Manitoba - The Apology Act (Bill 202)
Quebec - Article 2853.1 of the Civil Code of Québec
Alberta - section 26(1) of Bill 30 (Evidence Amendment Act (2008))
Going to a law library and asking a librarian should help you get information. They get asked oddball questions often so no judgement.
Women: exists
Taliban: “Wait, that’s illegal”
Certainly, most civilized countries offer this, eg in Germany: recht.bund.de or dejure.org. You can also find it on Amazon Netherlands: Je vindt het Nederlandse wetboek en alle actuele wet- en regelgeving gratis en officieel online op
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ - For the UK.
Not sure why people are saying the laws aren’t accessible in America
Here’s the entire federal code of laws
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text
Here’s the federal rules and regulations
Here’s a repository of every state’s laws
Yes, they’re there. Good luck finding what you want to find.
lawyers use Google before anything else. If you’re wondering if what you’re doing is illegal you probably can just look it up and find a decent enough answer
You’re not wrong that most statutory legislation is freely and readily available, but determining if an act is illegal in a practical sense requires looking at case law too.
Depending on what domain we’re talking about, technical legislation also often references paywalled documents. E.g., I work in biomed R&D, and the FDA regulations for medical devices are tied to pay-to-play ISO standards.
yeah nothing should be paywalled and westlaw/lexis/bloomberg/all of them should be a public service in fact
This is actually something I think ai will basically solve. Well, not the law as a public service part but the general access to reliable legal information part. I’ve seen the westlaw and lexis lawyer bots and they’re pretty good, a non lawyer could easily rely on it because lawyers already do.
I can’t imagine it takes more than 5 years before we see tailored compliance bots in various fields. AI mediated society is already here
New Zealand here. Yes, public libraries have the many volumes of the legal code in the reference section.
We also have the citizens advice bureau. They will help you make sure you’re within the law and not being taken advantage of.
Love the citizens advice bureau they helped me not get scammed out of a $2000 bond by a cunt of a landlord.
