11 Bizarre Laws That Are Still Technically Legal to Enforce
Most countries clean up outdated laws eventually. Most — not all. Scattered across city codes, state statutes, and national law books are rules so strange they sound invented. They’re not. Here are 11 that are still technically enforceable today.
1. Singapore: No Chewing Gum (Mostly)
Since 1992, importing and selling chewing gum has been banned in Singapore, largely to keep public spaces — especially subway doors — free of sticky mess. Therapeutic and dental gum is allowed with a prescription, but the general sale ban still stands, backed by fines.
2. Switzerland: You Can’t Flush the Toilet After 10 PM in Apartments
In some Swiss apartment leases and building regulations, flushing after 10 p.m. is treated as a noise violation. It’s not a national law, but it’s baked into building codes and tenancy agreements often enough to be a real and enforceable rule for renters.
3. UK: It’s Illegal to Handle a Salmon “Suspiciously”
The Salmon Act 1986 makes it an offense to handle salmon under suspicious circumstances — originally intended to combat black-market poaching, but the wording has never been updated, so it’s technically still a real charge.
4. France: Pigs Can’t Be Named Napoleon
An old French law prohibits naming a pig “Napoleon,” a rule dating back to concerns about insulting the historical figure. It’s rarely enforced but has never been formally repealed.
5. Thailand: You Can Be Fined for Stepping on Currency
Thai banknotes and coins carry the King’s image, and stepping on them is considered an act of disrespect that can be prosecuted under lèse-majesté-adjacent laws — even if the act was accidental.
6. Victoria, Australia: You Need a Permit to Change a Lightbulb (In Some Buildings)
Certain older regulations in parts of Australia require licensed electricians for jobs as small as replacing specific types of lightbulbs in commercial buildings, due to wiring safety codes that were never scaled down for minor tasks.
7. Samoa: It’s Illegal to Forget Your Wife’s Birthday
Widely reported (and disputed by some legal scholars) as an actual old statute — forgetting a spouse’s birthday was written into a now-rarely-enforced provision aimed at protecting marital harmony.
8. United States (Various States): Old “Blue Laws” Still Restrict Sunday Sales
Several U.S. states still have Prohibition-era “blue laws” limiting alcohol sales on Sundays or requiring certain businesses to stay closed — a holdover from religious observance laws that were never fully repealed.
9. Japan: Regulated Waist Sizes for Some Employers
Japan’s “metabo law” (2008) requires companies to measure employees’ waistlines annually as part of obesity-prevention public health policy — with fines for organizations that don’t comply with reporting requirements.
10. Germany: You Can’t Run Out of Fuel on the Autobahn
Deliberately running out of gas on the German Autobahn is treated as a traffic violation, since stopping on high-speed roads for a preventable reason is considered a public safety hazard.
11. Canada: It’s Illegal to Pay for a Pack of Gum Entirely in Pennies
Under Canada’s Currency Act, there are technical limits on how many coins of a given denomination can be used in a single transaction — meaning a shopkeeper can legally refuse a purchase paid entirely in pennies.
Why these survive: Most outdated laws aren’t repealed because nobody prioritizes it — they just sit unenforced until someone tests them, which is exactly how most of these stories resurface every few years.
