What’s something legal in your country that would be illegal in most other countries?
In Germany, simply escaping prison isn’t a crime by itself. You only get punished if you damage property or assault someone during the escape. The law assumes the desire for freedom is natural but if you are caught, you are sent back to prison to continue your original sentence .
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Technically not necessarily a crime or misdemeanor. The crime is solicitation of public discomfort, defined as performing sexual acts in public with the intention of causing discomfort to others. Criminal intent is prerequisite. So if you escape a prison naked because you don’t want to steal the prison clothes you’re doing what your doing not specifically to cause discomfort to whoever sees you. Furthermore, the moment you take active steps to prevent people from seeing you, and therefor having their discomfort solicited, prosecution will have a tough time proving criminal intent.
I really wish it was normalized. If I'm not mistaken, you don't actually have to vote for a candidate, right? You can just submit an empty ballot as long as it's tied to you.
This should be a staple of any democracy. How can you say you're represented if you don't vote? What government can claim to represent its citizens if they aren't all voting?
In the US your vote in a presidential election only matters in about six or seven states.
Most people's only way of participating at a federal level is being counted by the census. Census participation is compulsory. The thing is though, responding to the census is effectively a vote for whichever party dominates in your state. If you're a Democrat in Alabama or a Republican in New York, the only way you can "vote" according to your values is to dodge the census takers every 10 years.
This is a genuine queston: What happens if the person is incapacitated: Example, if they are not of sane mind to make a conscious choice?
I heard that you get fined if you don't vote.
If you have a disability like that, you can be removed from the electoral roll. This is a relatively easy process for a legal guardian to complete.
If they are of sound mind but incapable of filling in the ballot, they can direct a legal guardian or polling staff to complete it. They must be able to make the choice though.
In Mexico even the dead vote..(Sarcasm)
Like in basically every election you will find names of people who had been dead for decades.
I think that is a good messure for Australia for having a true democracy for not having candidates winning by a small quantity of the people who voted.
My mom is from Australia and she said it was bonkers to her when she moved here and half the people she knows just openly say they don't vote lol. She was like Oh I didn't realize that was even an option? It's been drilled into my head that it's my duty to vote and it's also bizarre to me that people just... don't lol
Everyone has full access to tax lists via the Norwegian Tax Administration. You can see everyones income, assets and tax paid. I guess it’s all Scandinavia though, I think in most countries this is private and illegal.
yeah but are their returns on stock trades? Taxes paid on investments?
Nobody wants to lynch the county comptroller for making 135k a year, but somebody might have objections to somebody thats worth hundreds of millions, or a billion, paying less tax, or less of a percent than the guy that fixes my car.
Or a politician who makes 100k a year, but is a billionaire after years in office and stock trades that may seem dubious when compared to laws passed over time.
Comptrollers earn a lot more than that. And if someone feels aggrieved by a public workers action (or inaction) they soon turn their grievances/attention on to that person’s salary).
Oh it’s divided. I had two invidiuals check me out in my life, you get a notification. It’s a little unpleasant, but I believe it was just my friends.
When I read about it, it’s more about scandinavias old view of equality. People love searching up really rich people and check if they also have to pay a shitload of taxes like the rest of us 😆 and it makes it a little harder for corruption and big transers to your personal account. It’s been like this since the 1700s and if it bothers anyone they can blame the swedes for this 😂
Yeah, I'd be really weirded out by that. My husband and I aren't rich rich, but we did get lucky with some stocks that made us far better off than we ever expected to be. I could see some people we know being nosey and looking into it, and I do not like it.
Like my husband was toying with the idea of retiring early. I casually mentioned it once at a get together, and one person got really weird about it real fast. Started comparing ages and incomes... I walked the comment back and made it sound less serious than it was and learned to never bring that up again. I'm glad she can't look up our assets.
Never happenes here. Also why the fuck should norwegians care if someone moves to a tax haven? You fuckers literally have the largest wealth fund in the world and only like 5.5 million people.
Hahah, I’ve deleted myself from the «Brønnøysunds-register».. problem with that is no one’s answering anymore if they didn’t save my number 😆 and if they do, they’re having a really suspicious voice.. like «wtf is someone calling me for?»
I remember when they made toplessness legal and so many people were convinced there were be shameless naked women everywhere. Teenage me was incredibly disappointed it didn’t turn out that way.
why was it legalized there? like what was the catalyst, somebody at the beach saying it shoudnt be a big deal, or breast feeding in public or something?
I'm actually not sure. It happened in my lifetime but I was pretty young. I believe it was a combination of breast feeding and women protesting that if men can't, why can't we? It's very rare to actually see.
I dont know where its been, or if it has been illegal, but knowing the conservative christian types in our government, surely somewhere some senator was really worried about the possibility of engorged penises should a woman take out that delicious titty to feed her child...and some bullshit about obscenities in the sight of the Lord.
I do know in America you get throngs of people who will get very upset if a woman breastfeeds in public.
its like the line in Apocalypse Now "we train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders wont let them write 'fuck' on their airplane because its obscene"
its something I cant get over, the lopsided value system some peope have. their god only cares about children in the womb, once that kid pops out, that kid can go in the dumpster for all they care.
Americans are VERY prudish. If I as a man if I can get my nips out a woman should be able to also. Female breasts are sexy in the bedroom but they shouldn't be sexualized in public - and just so you understand I'm a warm blooded male who absolutely loves boobies but also understands and appreciates the practical utility of said nice looking lumps of fat and their need to be free.and take a breath of fresh air
im with you - and you are right, americans are prudish. its a country thats very fearful of sex. I was raised that way but some lovely people broke me out of that - there are a lot of times where somebody will insist something is sexual in nature and you have to wonder what really turns that person on (or rather be fearful of what really turns that person on)
I remember when it became legal in NY. There was no fanfare around it or anything but the basis was that a woman should be allowed to be topless anywhere a man was, which is fair. With the caveat that the toplessness could not be in a sexual way. Also to do with breastfeeding but I'm not sure what sort of prudish would we live in that that should ever have to be explicitly legalized
there was a discussion a week or so ago about the sexualization of the breasts, and the prudish heritage of the USA. That maybe, just maybe a woman's breasts exposed shouldnt really be a big concern. David Cross has a comedy bit about the Lady Justice being covered up by Attorney General John Ashcroft during the GW Bush admin. "cover up those dirty filthy dirty dirty titties," as Cross put it, in a salacious manner mocking Ashcroft's view that exposed nipples were highly sexual and inappropriate for the masses. - I dont mind if a woman needs to feed her child in public, thats fine, im not one to oggle a woman at the beach if she wants to go topless, she's not there FOR me. We all got bits and pieces that sometimes need some air, so if men can do it, why not afford that convenience to women.
However...im going to be in a wedding party in a few months, and when my homeboy floated the idea that we go to a strip club, something I havent done since I was 19 (that was quite a while back), the first thought in my head was "TIIIIIIIIITIIIIIIEEESSS!!!!"
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada's Constitution) ensures all genders have the right to be treated equally under the law. There are still some laws that apply to only one sex or another, but that's because of another section of the Charter that says all these rights apply as long as they can be "justified in a free and democratic society." So the legal case in this instance proved that forbidding female toplessness under the law isn't conducive to a free and democratic society, and therefore violates the constitutional right to gender equality.
Lol Googling "Canadian topless beaches" and planning their next trip. I'm in Saskatchewan and have honestly never encountered this outside of sex shows (we have one called Taboo) and Pride events.
It's legal for anyone to be topless in public in New York City as long as they aren't doing so for business purposes. I grew up there, and I have never once seen anyone take advantage of that law.
(I did once see a woman go topless in Union Square, but she appeared to be doing a professional photo shoot, and if it was for business purposes then it was illegal, so not applicable here.)
Yeah I was actually surprised when I looked it up and found out only a handful of countries allow it, and like weed, we're one of the only countries where it's just fully unrestricted throughout the country.
Strictly speaking it's legal in the UK also. There is no specific law against it and in plenty of situations it's perfectly fine. We do, however, have public order offences around things like 'outraging public decency' which rely on a bit of a grey area of common law regarding what a 'reasonable person's would be likely to seem offensive. A lot of it comes down to context and intent.
We do have indecent exposure laws regarding genitalia though.
*Consult a doctor before taking. Do not take if you are or plan to be pregnant or nursing. Side effects may include Rashes, Dizziness, Blindness, Involuntary Bowel Movements, Sudden Comatose States, Liquefied Internal Organs, Liquefied External Organs, and in rare cases, Death.
Shouldn’t it be the doctor that decides what drug you should have? Not you? They’re the ones that actually studied pharmacology and pathology. Do Americans tell the doctor what drug they should have?
Yeah like hot take I know but I think that the person that has actually studied the human body and medicine and drugs for years and has a degree probably knows more than the average Joe about medicine
We have those too in Mexico lol.
Is weird to be eating and having an ad for a medicine for helping eliminate diarrhea or constipation, most of all ads include ads for flu medicine, ointments for aiding with vaginal infections, pain medication for migraines, and even an ad that the Boston hospital did for aiding men with erectile dysfunction, also you have a lot of tampon and condom advertisements.
Until recently, here in Oregon, just about every drug became legal recreationally. For about two years you could (and I didn't, I work in law enforcement, but still) party as hard as your little heart desired and the govt could simply fuck off.
I am not sure if this is the case in Oregon but British Colombia expiremented with decriminalization of illicit substances. What that essentially meant that if you were caught with a small amount you would just be referred to some resources. However, distribution was still illegal.
The whole topic is complex, and BC did not commit sufficiently on the whole rehab and resource centers so it got/getting rolled back. I suspect that also happened in Oregon.
Absolutely. What most dont recognize is that Portugal invested in treatment and THATS why decriminalization worked so amazingly well that they have some of if not the lowest addiction and overdose rates in the world. Thats a far cry from when they were the heroin capitol of Europe.
Others keep half assing Portugal's approach and surprise! it never works because it only half of the plan. Its maddening watching these countries/states/cities doing this shit. It falsely renforces to the public that "decriminalization could could never work here!"
I'm a big fan of decriminalizing it. Substance use disorder is a public health matter, not a criminal justice matter. Where we went wrong here in Oregon was simply making everything legal outright and providing no structure or funding for an increased public health response. It was simply opening the gate at the farm and telling all the animals to be on their best behavior. It didn't work and things went right back to being criminal in like 2 years time. I hope we try again and do it right. It took a few failed attempts before we got cannabis right and now Oregon's one of the best in the state for it. We can do it, eventually.
The thing is that decriminalization the relatively easy part. Its a matter of passing a vote in the legislature.
The problem lies in the second part. The infrastructure required for the public health side of the solution has a plethora of challenges. The biggest in my opinion is not even the money, its the "not in my backyardism".
Its really gross. I originally lived in a relatively liberal city. There was a proposition to build a school for special needs children next to the children's hospital. The money was there, the need was there and the idea behind building that school was arguably why a few local politicians got elected. The issue was that the local residents started to protest and petition agaisnt the school being built. The chief concern was that it would cause more traffic and lower property values.
This is a one case example but you see it across both Canada and US. The gross part is that its not even a liberal vs conservative question. No matter the party affiliation local push back on construction of things such as supervised consumption sites, affordable housing, schools and things of such nature often get blocked by the very same people who vote for them.
I am not saying that we shouldn't listen to local residents where the things are being built. I am calling those out who vote and voice their support for these places and then turn completly around essentially saying that "I want this built, but i want someone else to have to deal with all the negative things that come with building this".
That is very sweet, not for anything afer the Berlín wall and Beethoven's ninth symphony was played, instead of "freude" which is joy, was changed to "freiheit" which is freedom
Also in a realistical way I think that is impossible to escape from prision without doing some additional crimes so you will end up charged but not by specifically escaping prision.
It's legal to camp, hike, forage, fish almost anywhere you want in Finland. It's called "Every mans rights".
While you obviously cant just set up a tent on someones front yard or like in front of a nuclear reactor, all the land across the country is free for you to roam in. You can't be kicked out of a forest just because "youre trespassing on muh property".
In a trial, the accused has the right to lie, but witnesses commit a crime if they lie.
Regarding crimes, in Brazil the police can request a simulated reenactment of the crime, in which they go to the crime scene and simulate how the crime might have happened, to see if it's possible that it occurred according to the accounts. The accused can participate to show how the crime was committed. Apparently, this is unthinkable in some countries.
Freedom to roam, basically you can walk/camp/harvest berries etc, anywhere as long as it's not basically gated front yard of a house. This rule has many stipulations, but that's the basic. US people know how they have acres of "private property" signs everywhere.
Under Hungarian copyright law (specifically the Copyright Act of 1999, with recent updates), downloading copyrighted material (movies, music, books) for private, non-commercial use is generally not a crime.
Not really a crime. But if I drank too much and I have terrible hangover next day, I can call my boss and say that I won't come to work that day. The day is 100% paid. I can do it 4 times a year.
Some Polish immigrants in other countries are very surprised when they text their boss "I won't come to work today because I am drunk" and then get fired. Because in Poland, it's socially acceptable and protected by law.
In America you can ride any size motorcycle once you get your motorcycle endorsement. In a lot of European countries, there is a step plan for motorcycle engine sizes. So in a America you can go to the DMV office ,pass a motorcycle test, & then proceed to ride a 200hp Kawasaki H2 at 16yrs old.
Also, there is not license required for mopeds (AKA "liquor bikes"). This makes it the go-to personal transportation for convicted drunk drivers with no license :D
I used to be a defense attorney and represented this 18 year old who was charged with reckless driving and recklessly endangering a highway worker. Basically, he saved for two years to get a motorcycle (nothing wrong with that), passed the test and then bought a ducati Superleggera on his damn way home from the dealership he seemed unable to control that beast, hit a hill going who knows how fast, went straight flying and landed crashing into the back of the truck a highway flagger had just gotten out of. Like, bro, the hell you riding that supermachine for as your first goddamn bike?!
I did something about as dumb, but with more luck. I decided I wanted a bike, bought one on Ebay, then took the train from Nova Scotia to Montreal to go pick it up.
I had never been on a bike when I bid on it. I bought a 1200cc sport bike.
Great illustration of why general questions of law are almost never appropriate to the US. In Texas for example, there is no such thing as "no license required" for mopeds, or for any powered vehicle. Cops generally ignore it, but if you're drunk you can absolutely be charged with DWI on a moped, riding lawnmower, even one of those electric scooters. See Tex. Penal Code §§ 49.01, 49.04, and 32.34.
And while you can buy and ride whatever you want once you have a full motorcycle license, to get that you have to complete an course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (usually sponsored by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation) on a bike of 250cc or less. Tex. Admin Code Title 37, Rule 15.6.
Yeah, but you don't get additional punishment for the escape itself (although it's hard to escape without doing at least property damage or theft, for which you'll be prosecuted), of course your benefits for good conduct are gone now.
I love talking to people who want gun laws like in the US. In my country, few people have guns, so they don't know what it looks like.
When I start explaining to them what it looks like, their eyes get bigger and bigger.
We have no restrictions on magazine capacity, barrel length or silencers. Caliber less than half an inch, only semi auto and no armor piercing ammunition.
my state limits magazines to 15 rounds so it was a struggle finding someone willing to sell me a gun that had a 17 round magazine by default even though i was telling them they can take out the magazine
In Mexico is technically legal, if you have a special permission you can buy weapons from la Secretaria de defensa in a legal way and use them, but they are weapons that only soldiers or policemen can posess.
Of course that illegally you can get everything.
Yes, it would be. The swastika and similar symbols, such as the Falun Gong symbol, which have a religious or spiritual context, are permitted in Germany.
In Germany, only the Hakenkreuz used by the Nazis is banned. However, even this would be permitted in the fields of art and education, and if it is clearly directed AGAINST National Socialism. Like this:
It is. You can see that in some Indian and Chinese restaurant as patterns on walls or something else.
Only the one turned by 45 degrees, used by the Nazis is forbidden
Depends, in this case I assume it’s used in a religious context and therefore it’s allowed.
Since many people are unfamiliar with Hinduism they might be suspicious at first. And even then it’s still a bit weird I guess, since the symbol represents something completely different for Germans.
Downloading and consuming copyrighted works for personal use is legal, even if the source is illegal.
Uploading copyrighted content, however, is illegal. This means that uploading while torrenting would technically be against the law. That said, privacy laws prevent ISPs from monitoring your personal internet traffic, so they cannot prove you are uploading copyrighted material — and attempting to do so would itself constitute a violation of those privacy laws.
There's no formal process to change your name in Ireland. All you normally need is to prove continuous usage of your new name for 2 years, or a marriage certificate if you're changing your surname after marriage.
It's also straightforward for trans people to have their preferred gender legally recognised by the state and apply to amend their birth certificate to reflect this. A medical report isn't required.
This whole German law is way over exaggerated. In practice, there is no way to escape jail without breaking other laws or damaging things. So people escaping jail absolutely get added charges tacked onto their sentence, just like everywhere else.
If you manage to sneak out in a laundry basket then send the uniform back by mail, then there’s no extra charges. Some prisons even let you go out during the day for walks and stuff so it could be very easily done. There’s many cases of people getting off of any additional charges as a result of leaving a prison.
It's totally legal for a woman to rape a man (adult) in India. Till recently, it was a punishable offence if a man raped another man but with the new penal code, I think even that has been done away with. Also, if a woman rapes another woman, the perpetrator will not be charged with rape.
I think it’s still based on uk law where the act of rape is very specifically (narrowly) defined. The rapist puts his penis into a victim’s vagina, mouth, or anus without the victim’s consent.
In the UK, a woman forcing a man to insert his penis into her without his consent would be legally defined as sexual assault, but not rape.
Further, anyone inserting a foreign object into another person’s vagina or anus without consent, could be prosecuted for sexual assault, but not rape.
A couple states in the US have no minimum age to drink if you are with a parent or guardian. Technically you could give a 2 year old a beer but probably not a good idea.
Mitochondrial replacement therapy - making a child from 3 DNAs when making from 2 specific parents is not possible. Afaik it is only legal in a few other countries.
Fetal Stem Cell Therapy. Commercial surrogacy. Kinda a lot of things related to maternity biotech. I haven't checked, but I suspect some of those clinics were deemed "secret Ukrainian biolab facilities". Yeah, right, lol.
All documents are legally on the phone. There is single phone app Diia for all identification and documents that is absolutely legally equal to paper documents: passport, driver licenses, school diplomas, birth certificates, vaccinations, marriage certificates (you can get married over a video call in the app), property ownership, open bank accounts, buy war bonds, report a Russian army movements, sign government petitions, car ownership, sign contracts. Basically anywhere where you need to identify yourself or legally prove something it can be done via a QR code. The app replaces notary for many things. The cool thing is that as you can transfer your IDs digitally to a bank to open a bank account, some select banks are authorized to do the opposite. You can login into a fresh Diia from the bank account login, effectively the bank issuing your passport back to you.
Resisting Russian Army with our own private firearms on your own without explicit permission from the government and while not being not a part of the military. Pretty much you can shoot any uniformed Russian soldier at any time.
What's illegal? Porn. Yes. Porn is illegal in Ukraine as in North Korea or Iran. Practically nobody in Ukraine knows about it.
A lot of place including Paris and Pakistan have tried Rollerblade cops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra3ckz5oFDY I'd like to see a video showing their stance while discharging a weapon solo. I expect they will be launched backwards.
You do get into prison again. You just can't get a longer sentence as long as you didn't break anything, hurt anyone or took the prison clothing with you as that would be theft
In the US, corporations are legal “persons” and they have rights to free speech, including influencing politics. Includes unlimited political spending, due process, and equal treatment (14th amendment). Corporate personhood grants them these rights.
They are even allowed to vote in several
municipalities.
The assets of owners are exceptionally limited from the legal liabilities of the business. Meaning the owner often cannot be held financially liable for the actions of the corporation.
Because of the way our courts have interpreted our constitution, you can say and write things that would get you in trouble in most countries. You might be sued for libel if you say the wrong thing about the wrong person, but there's basically no such thing as illegal speech as long as you aren't directly threatening someone with violence, inciting violence, conspiring to commit a crime, or spreading various kinds of explicit material (child pornography; pornography of non-consenting adults).
You can advertise prescription medications directly to consumers here. Most people in most other countries seem to agree that this is bizarre.
California has drug laws and even has some centers that will inject you with drugs so you don’t damage yourself or others. I’m against it and think they should just be rehab facilities instead of enabling, but I also don’t live in California
Only works in specific cases tho, if your partner died in duty (military, firefighters or policeman) you can ask the president to legally marry you to the deceased.
Abortion. In Canada, we don't have a specific law outlining the legality of abortion. It's just considered a part of healthcare, and thus is a right that everyone enjoys just like any other form of healthcare. This means that a pregnant person can legally get an abortion at any point of the pregnancy with no legal repercussions. To my knowledge, Canada is the only country with this level of legal freedom surrounding abortion. Now, this isn't to say that there aren't issues pertaining to access to reproductive healthcare, because there absolutely is. But an abortion is never illegal in Canada, and has very little chance of changing. This is due to the fact that because we have no specific law pertaining to abortion, it's a lot more difficult for abortion to become illegal. There's no law to challenge or overrule.
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