Category: Law

Many different drugs can be prescribed by doctors in the UK, except for substances that have no therapeutic value and are ultimately harmful. However, even those can be obtained legally by researchers with a Home Office licence. It was the significant rise of the black market in drugs for recreational purposes in the 1960s that led to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and its classification of drugs according to their potential harm to users, both physically and in society.

Class A (most dangerous) includes heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and LSD. A supplier or producer can be jailed for life. A user can face 7 years in prison and/or a fine. Class B includes cannabis, barbiturates and ketamine. A user can be jailed for up to 5 years and/or be fined.  Class C includes anabolic steroids, pregabalin, tramadol and many more. Users can receive 2 years and/or a fine. Suppliers or producers of Classes B and C can be imprisoned for 14 years and/or be fined.

A drug’s classification can be changed, e.g. cannabis was Class C in 2004-09. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 introduced Schedules to assist doctors. Schedule I drugs cannot be prescribed. Schedule V covers over-the-counter tablets. The Schedules between can all be prescribed.

(Image: picryl.com / Public domain)

After so much history on these small islands, it is not surprising that people actively search with metal detectors for buried treasure and often find it. Does the saying “finders keepers” apply? No. Indeed, under the Treasure Act 1996 it is a criminal offence not to report finding treasure within 14 days of realising that your find qualifies as ‘treasure’ and you could even be fined and/or spend three months in prison!

As all the land ultimately belongs to the Crown, anything valuable buried in it is of interest to the authorities. In England and Wales it is the Portable Antiquities Scheme to which reports must be made; in Scotland the Treasure Trove Unit; and in N.Ireland the Treasure Registry.  A major museum (e.g. the British Museum) then assesses the item (it must not have be cleaned by the finder) and a reward may be paid. The largest reward for any of the 10,000+ finds since 1996 was £4,300,000 for 2,584 silver pennies dating from the Norman Conquest dug up in a Somerset field in 2019.

Gold and silver content, rarity, untraceable ownership and age (over 300 years) are the key factors in designating an item as ‘treasure’. Fossils, bones and artefacts from wrecks fall into other categories.

(Image of Roman coins found in Shropshire: Benedict Pond at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Until 1940, Britons paid tax only on their incomes, but wartime shortages saw the introduction of a purchase tax too. It was not until our entry into the EEC that this was abolished, but another purchase tax called Value Added Tax (V.A.T.) took its place and it was brought into law by the Finance Act of 1972. Though it started at 10% it has been 20% since 2011 and constitutes around 15% of total government revenue.

The collection process is that an invoice is issued showing the sales price and underneath is shown the V.A.T., with a grand total under that. The business’s V.A.T. registration number, trading name and address must also appear. Every month, a V.A.T. Return is completed, giving the total V.A.T. paid out to other businesses and the total collected from customers. The  difference is what is due to (or from) H.M. Revenue & Customs. In this way, the business is the intermediate tax-collector and the consumer is the one who pays the tax.

Governments up to 2011 varied the rate to suit their economic policies ~ low to stimulate spending, high to bring down inflation ~ making its historical record appear rather lumpy. Other adjustments have been to exemptions for ‘essentials’ and zero- and reduced-rate items.

(Image showing UK tax revenue for 2008-09: Splash & Gamekeeper at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

There are approximately 2,300,000 guns legally held in the UK, primarily for pest control on one’s own land and the recreational pursuits of clay-pigeon and target shooting at shooting clubs.  Other purposes include the preservation of antique guns and, occasionally, authentic-looking enactments for the film industry. Licences are issued by the Police. Self-defence has not been a valid reason for owning a gun in Britain since the World Wars, though there were no restrictions at all until the 20th century.

In 1996 at Dunblane Primary School, 32 people, mostly children, were killed or injured in the UK’s most tragic mass shooting. The killer legally possessed 12 guns. The resulting outcry led to the Firearms (Amendment) (No.2) Act of 1997, banning all handguns. This marked the last in a series of laws tightening up the regulations for gun ownership.

There are two types of licence ~ one for shotguns, the other for firearms, which is harder to obtain. Although exceptions had to be made for the shooting competitions in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games when these were held in Britain, guns smaller than 24-inches in length are generally not allowed. Various styles of non-military rifle are available and these are the ones mostly used for leisure activities.

(Image: pxhere.com / Public domain)

The first concerns from the medical industry over the effects of long-term smoking were raised in 1957. By 2007, just 50 years later, all but the actual personal choice to indulge in this habit had been bludgeoned in UK law, this being the year that smoking was banned in public places. Not everyone has welcomed this transformation (notably tobacco retailers) and although the lobbying and campaigning has cut the number of smokers by 40% overall, there are still parts of the country where almost half of adults smoke, the minimum legal age for smoking being 18.

The government collects tax (‘duty’) on sales of tobacco and this provides a hefty income (£10,277,000,000 in 2021-22, for example) which increases every year. Nevertheless, in 1965 it banned cigarette adverts on TV as a first blow against smoking’s sophisticated, convivial image. In 1971 the first of the compulsory health warnings on cigarette packs appeared and these have grown steadily larger up to the advent of ‘plain packaging’ in 2016.

Restrictions ratcheted up even further in 2014 with the all-encompassing Children and Families Act taking control of the marketing of tobacco products.  Shops now have to keep cigarettes ‘under the counter’ hidden from children’s beady eyes and smoking is banned in private cars carrying children.

(Top image: pxfuel.com)

Employee welfare in Britain’s unprecedented and, for some, traumatic passage through the Industrial Revolution was not always uppermost in employers’ minds. The age-old practice of bartering apparently evolved into a ‘truck’ system (from Middle English ‘truke’ meaning exchange, barter) whereby wages were paid either in the form of goods or in vouchers, sometimes called ‘tommy tickets’, that were only valid in the company shop.

Unfortunately, it benefitted employers to over-value the goods and not bother about their quality. Workers may have found the shop convenient, but it cut their options and financial independence, with many racking up debts they could never repay. Parliament therefore stepped in with a series of Truck Acts.

The first one of note, in 1831, established fines for businesses using a truck system but there were so many occupations excepted that it effectively gave those a green light. This was remedied in the 1887 Truck Act which covered almost all trades. The 1896 Truck Act ensured any deductions from wages were fair and agreed. The 1960 Payment of Wages Act introduced payment by cheque as an alternative to ‘the coin of the Realm’, but it was not until the 1986 Wages Act that all of the Truck Acts were deemed outdated.

(Image: pxhere.com & publicdomainpictures.net / CC0)

There remain around 200 operational UK Magistrates’ Courts (called Justice of the Peace (JP) Courts in Scotland) after many closures in recent years, perhaps indicating that Brits are more law-abiding these days. Alas no, since this seems to have caused a backlog of cases waiting to be heard!

Nearly all criminal as well as civil, ‘summary’ offences ~ such as motoring violations, minor assault or damage, burglary and drug-related offences ~ are dealt with at the Magistrates’ Court, even if this is only to determine that a serious, ‘indictable’ offence should go up to the Crown Court for trial and/or greater punishment than the maximum 6 months in prison, per offence, (60 days in Scotland) available to be meted out at Magistrate/JP level. The lower Court is also limited in the amount of fines that can be demanded.

Cases in a Magistrates’ Court are judged either by a panel of three (or sometimes two) Magistrates/JPs, who are unpaid trained volunteers, or by one district judge, who is a paid legal professional. There is also a legal advisor, an usher, a prosecutor and usually a defence solicitor. Witnesses can be brought in and the public and press can sit and watch, but there is no jury.

(Image: Betty Longbottom at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)