• shadowSprite@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Since it’s still on the books, could that be used as a legal defense? (Just curious, I’m neither in the UK nor wish to kill anyone with a bow and arrow after midnight)

    • prayer@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Common law is based on precedent more than written law (code law), so the fact that no scottsman has been killed in over 100 years and used this law as a defence is proof enough that it isn’t valid legislation.

    • gid@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      No, you couldn’t use it as a valid legal defense. There are a lot of old laws like this in the UK that, while technically on the books, have been replaced by more recent legislation.

    • Evia@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      No, common law is set in precident and there’s no legal precident for it currently.