''Uncommon Law'' is a book by

A. P. Herbert Sir Alan Patrick Herbert CH (A. P. Herbert, 24 September 1890 – 11 November 1971), was an English humorist, novelist, playwright, law reformist, and in 1935–1950 an independent Member of Parliament for Oxford University. Born in Ashtead, Su ...

first published by Methuen in 1935. Its title is a satirical reference to the English

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

. The book is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of fictitious law reports first published in ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' as ''Misleading Cases'' in which Herbert explores, as he saw it, rather absurd aspects of the law, and upholds his

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

with the protagonist Albert Haddock, representing Herbert's point of view, taking many to court. It includes perhaps the best-known of these cases, ''The Negotiable Cow''. Herbert himself said "Albert Haddock made his first public appearance, in ''Punch'', in 1924. I have always understood that I invented him: but he has made some disturbing escapes into real life". Over his lifetime Herbert published five collections, entitled ''Misleading Cases in the Common Law'', ''More Misleading Cases'', ''Still More Misleading Cases'', ''Codd's Last Case'' and ''Bardot M.P.?''. Stray cases also appear in his collections of miscellaneous humorous essays, such as ''General Cargo''. Virtually all the cases were assembled into two omnibus volumes, ''Uncommon Law'' in 1935 and ''More Uncommon Law'' in 1982. A shorter selection, ''Wigs at Work'', appeared in 1966. The

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successfully adapted them for television as three series of '' A P Herbert's Misleading Cases'' (1967, 1968 and 1971: 19 episodes in total), with

Roy Dotrice Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British actor famed for his portrayal of the antiquarian John Aubrey in the record-breaking solo play ''Brief Lives''. Abroad, he won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway re ...

as Haddock and

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

as the judge, Mr Justice Swallow who has to unravel Haddock's logic.

Selection of cases

* ''Rex v Haddock'': Is it a Free Country? : Haddock jumps off

Hammersmith Bridge Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough ...

for a bet and is arrested and charged with numerous offences by the bemused police, including "polluting a watercourse"; his defence is that "there is no law against it" and that he did it "for fun". The

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

disagrees, saying "it is a fundamental principle of English law that a person who appears in a police court has done something undesirable". When questioned on his motive that he did it "for fun", the judge states "We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament". * ''Tinrib, Rumble, And Others v The King and Queen'': Fish Royal : A dead whale is washed up on the shore of Pudding Magna in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

and a dispute ensues as to who is responsible for its disposal, which becomes increasingly urgent as the carcase has started to decompose, making the town unpleasant to live in. It is contended according to precedent that the whale is " fish royal" and therefore the monarch is responsible; however, the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

correctly points out that a whale is a mammal and therefore outside its jurisdiction. The appeal proceeds on the instructions of "the ''late'' residents of Pudding Magna", but is immediately adjourned. * ''Rex v Haddock'': Is a Golfer a Gentleman? : The frustrated Mr Haddock, unable to make his golf ball follow its intended trajectory, is heard to utter a stream of swear words, and is summoned under the Profane Oaths Act 1745 which creates differing penalties for different classes of people, including gentlemen, to whom the highest rate is applied. Haddock argues that while playing golf, he is so bad at it that he no longer can be regarded as a gentleman, and therefore his fine should be lowered. He succeeds with this argument.

Vehicles for law reform

Being a law reform activist, Herbert, through these "Misleading Cases", aired, initiated and sustained debate on various aspects of the law in which he saw need for change: copyright, divorce, defamation, liquor licensing, the police as

agents provocateurs An agent provocateur () is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, the ...

(usually Constable Boot) and rules of the road being some of the recurrent themes. At one point, Haddock turns himself into a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

and insists to the court that he be called Haddock, Haddock, Haddock, Haddock Haddock & Co. because the copyright law states that copyright expires fifty years after the author's death (in the United Kingdom) (the fictional judge asking "Would this be Mr. Albert Haddock? Then we are in for some fun litigation") but since a company being in law a

person A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...

he objects to a

winding-up order Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

to shut the apparently defunct company because ''a company never dies'' and so its copyright can never expire. Every time the prosecution calls him Mr. Haddock he intervenes "You mean the

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

". Haddock argues that individuals should have the same rights as companies. The case is found in his favour, Haddock also suggesting to the prosecution that it is open to other authors to take the same tack as he has.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0061279, title=Misleading Cases Works originally published in Punch (magazine) 1935 short story collections Works about law enforcement Short stories about law Methuen Publishing books Works by A. P. Herbert

Selection of cases

Vehicles for law reform

See also

References

External links