you can kill welsh/scots man in *** city with a bow and arrow

[One_And_Only_Wanderers]

Just had this gem trotted past me at work. In this case my colleague is insisting you can kill a Welshamn in Hereford with a bow and arrow legally. I’ve heard this kind of tripe before about various cities and nationalities, but I struggled to find something on Snopes. Does anyone have a cast iron cite i can use to refute this claim?

[fortytwo]

I suspect I’m not going to be of much use to you.

I’ve tried looking before for this, particularly about the Welshman in Hereford/Chester/ etc. Being Welsh I have a vested interest in it.

This is the best I can do but I don’t think it will be what you require to convince your colleague

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Ever been drunk driving a steam engine?

[casdave]

No you cannot, it would be murder.

Quite a lot of odd bits and pieces of law were superceded by the European Act and European Human Rights Act.

Article 2: Right to Life

(1) Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which the penalty is provided by law.
(2) Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary- (a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
© in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.
Killing a person because of their nationality would be illegal.

[GorillaMan]

Hereford, Chester, York, Shrewsbury…the myth has a lot of variants. And even if such a law ever did exist, the definition of such a thing as a ‘Welshman’ lost any legal standing a long time ago. And ‘Scotsman’ too, although more recently.

[friedo]

@casdave

No you cannot, it would be murder.

Well, there go my vacation plans. :mad:

[The_Stafford_Cripps]

@casdave

No you cannot, it would be murder.

Quite a lot of odd bits and pieces of law were superceded by the European Act and European Human Rights Act.

Even before those acts came into force it would still have been illegal because such obsolete ancient legislation or common law would have fallen into desuetude, or whatever the Engilsh equivalent is. In other words the law had not been used for many centuries and the courts would have seen it as not actually existing any more.

[Captain_Amazing]

Here is an article from the Chester News about TV star Adam Rickitt promising to fight to repeal the “kill a Welshman in Chester” law if he gets elected to Parliament, just as some trivia:

Cheshire Live - News, Sport, events in Chester and around Cheshire

[Northern_Piper]

@G. Odoreida

Even before those acts came into force it would still have been illegal because such obsolete ancient legislation or common law would have fallen into desuetude, or whatever the Engilsh equivalent is. In other words the law had not been used for many centuries and the courts would have seen it as not actually existing any more.

There isn’t an English equivalent - the common law doesn’t recognize a doctrine of desuetude, as summarised by wiki:

The doctrine of desuetude is not favoured in the common law tradition. In 1818, the English court of King’s Bench held in the case of Ashford v. Thornton that trial by combat remained available at a defendant’s option in a case where it was available under the common law. The concept of desuetude has more currency in the civil law tradition, which is more regulated by legislative codes, and less bound by precedent.

[The_Stafford_Cripps]

Oh, sorry.

[AskNott]

@friedo

Well, there go my vacation plans. :mad:

I’m picturing friedo refusing to step to the back of an archery shop in Chester, and later marching for his right to kill a Welshman. He has a dream, people! :eek: