{OT} Crap Joke ...

Aye, but they are qualified lawyers, and not a bunch of illiterate geriatric
boobies.

No. The HoL, as a parliamentary house, can delay the enactment of
legislation. The Law Lords can rule on a law's ultimate legality and/or
constitutionality.

No sanction, as such. [pause to Google] 'A defendant does not have to
answer questions about an offence, whether or not they are under arrest.
The caution may be used: "You have the right to remain silent, but it may
harm your defence if you fail to mention now something you later seek to
rely on in court. Anything you do say will be written down and given in
evidence." However, it should be noted that the right to silence is just
that.'

Which seems fair enough. Some years [10-15] back, there was a case of a man
who simply refused to answer *every* question from the moment of his arrest.
He stayed silent throughout. I forget completely what the charge was, but
he was tried, convicted, imprisoned for a few months and eventually released
without anyone even knowing what his name was.

SO? Employer? Civil Service? Immigration? Yamaha?

 

That's just semantics. When used in the legal sense, it pretty much
stems from the US or French type systems where something can be ruled
to be 'unconstitutional', i.e. it goes against the constitution, which
is a pre-defined statement.

 

Why quote this:

is found in a variety of statutes (as the Magna Carta) and >in common law.

And then say this:

?

 

"Pretty much"? Oh, the inexactitudes of the legal profession....

 

IANAL. And we're talking about words, not laws.

 

At times like this, Des, even an eminently equable and patient fellow like
me starts to lose his rag with your wilful refusal to understand. Still, I
must remind myself that English is not your first language, and must strive
manfully to help you to understand.

The full HoL [sitting as a legislative chamber] can delay proposed
legislation - yes, for one year [1] but not a financial Bill - but the Law
Lords [as a judicial, not a legislative, body] can overturn existing
legislation on the grounds of its fundamental illegality and
unconstitutionality. That, by contrast, is an absolute.

Which is why a building block in any law degree is a course on the British
Constitution. The Constitution may not be codified in a single piece of
legislation, but that doesn't stop it existing. It does, however, make it a
bitch to study!

Spare me your derision. Check out the word 'sanction':-
3a A law or decree.
3b The penalty for noncompliance specified in a law or decree.
4 A penalty, specified or in the form of moral pressure, that acts to ensure
compliance or conformity.

You may remain silent. You may recite "The Ball of Kirriemuir", and in
Swahili, if you want to. You may introduce a "last minute alibi". It is
simply that the jury has the right to wonder why the hell you didn't
mention, at the time of your arrest, that you couldn't have done the robbery
because you were really 200 miles away ... on a fishing weekend ... in
Norway ... with 3 friends ... called Knuckles, Nosher and Scarface Charlie
.... and nobody else saw you there. There is, however, no legal *sanction*.


[1] But, actually, rejected legislation is frequently quietly buried as
being bad law. Many of the Lords [even the hereditary ones] are sensible,
sensitive and astute people. They benefit from not being grasping,
ambitious, career-driven, sell-their-own-granny, blindly loyal, political
lobby-fodder, gingerbread-men.

 

I'll think I'll just save the time and get straight to the killfiling if
it's all the same to you.

 

Go on, then: expand on this.

 

Aaaah! Des is agreeing with me!

<Runs off to find cliff[1]>


[1 I wonder if he'll agree too?

 

The word "usually" means "often - but not always", so this use of the
word "constitutional" could be an exception to your statement. Just
semantics

 

Which reminds me - has Porl invited you to join him for next month's
ride-out? We'll all be on gixxers, so it'd be good to have an R1 to
compare with...

<Whistles>

 

Actually that's not strictly true, is it? He's posted the invite to
all and sundry on here...

 

Err, Des, you're digging deeper. Take my advice and stop now. You've
made a couple of points which may have had some effect - leave it at
that, eh? Statements like the above, where you just imply some legal
qualification, sre what tend to lead you down the fukk-blown, "let's
make up a CV" type of thing that's got you in so much trouble
before...

Phew!

 

Look, ignoring a thread is a well-established means of avoiding
admitting you were wrong. Let's be grateful.

 

Putting something in inverted commas doesn't make it suddenly make sense,
you know.

Anyway, on the basis that real life ain't usenet of course you'd be welcome.
And it's not like we'd need to make extra parking space.

 

I'm surprised that rattle hasn't learnt to fly under its own power by now.

 

_I_ know that, but your post could be read in that way. And it's not
as if it hasn't happened before...

 

To be fair, that is something I've never said, and never would say. I was,
however, getting exasperated with the inability to understand or acknowledge
the difference between legislature and judicature.

I, for one, was rather enjoying the debate. Sourcing it will take time as,
like you, I have other [if not necessarily better] things to do. Don't give
up on it.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

So, forgive me if I'm wrong on this, but why hasn't somebody taken all
the bits and pieces that make up this Constitution and printed it off?
It would make life so much easier if we could all read it and point to
bits that affect us.

Or, forgive me if I'm being cynical, is it that it suits the people in
power to not give the masses something to rely on in court in case it
harms the attempt to stitch them up?

Laws'R Us seems to be the way of it. Whatever you want to do, we can
find something in the old dusty chests to do you.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Yes, that's about the sum of it!