Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-10-07 13:09:35 +0100, Stuart Noble
said:

clot wrote:
Owain wrote:
clot wrote:
Sadly, too true. I have been involved in organising the local May
Day Carnival for the passed twenty years with proceeds going to
local charities. What we have gone through in the last couple of
years in terms of various risk assessments, safety certificates,
public liability insurances is almost beyond credibility. I
suspect that it's been a rouse of Blur's to keep the unemployment
figures down by added local govt. job's worths - who in this
instance, don't seem to have a clue about the real world, but
have to do something!

The Army are rebuilding a bridge near me as a training exercise,
but they're not allowed to sleep in the local community centre
because of elfin safety. I know it's a bit of a rough area, but
they're headed off to Afghanistan soon...

Spot on. It's just not credible how stupid we are.We desperately
Douglas Adams to take these loonies to a better life for them!

Why are us Brits so law abiding? Just do what the Europeans do, pass
the laws and obey them if you feel like it. Ever seen a Greek
wearing a crash helmet?

First point is that we are (geographically at least) in Europe - it
isn't somewhere else.

The second point is that it isn't true to say that the British are
more law abiding in a blanket way than in other European countries.
I've spent a lot of time in many of them and talked to a lot of
people about just these issues.

One difference that does separate the UK from most other countries is
that the legal system here is based mainly on precedent and case law,
whereas in most other places it's codified (e.g. based on Napoleonic
Code). However, this has extended into many parts of Europe, both
north and south.

THe far more significant issue is a cultural one as you hinted, and
that does seem to be a north/south, germanic language/latin language
one. Thus if you speak with people from the Nordic countries or
Germany, they do feel more comfortable with clear cut laws. Even so,
there are variations. For example (and these are generalisations)
Norwegians tend to be quite independently minded and so consider
respect for the individual to be important, whereas Finns tend to
value humility as an important trait.

French, Italian and Spanish people have all said to me on different
occasions that in many aspects they view the law as something to be
applied when something bad happens. Again this is a stereotype but
does give some explanation of why there is an apparent disregard for
the law. There's plenty of it, but enforcement isn't there until
there's a problem.

Going further afield, there is much more apparent lawlessness (or
perhaps apparent lack of lawful behaviour) in former Eastern Europe.
For example, the standard of driving and road behaviour in places like
Warsaw and Moscow is appalling - makes Milan seem like a Sunday
afternoon outing.

So I think there is a perception factor as well as reality.

Where we do unnecessarily shoot ourselves in the foot is in placing of
EU Directives into local law. I've looked at quite a few of these
over the years and compared UK implementations with those of other
countries. In basis, they are the same. However, in most other
countries, the detail is left out. In the UK we tend to either take
them pretty much verbatim or even worse gold plate them. We have
only ourselves to blame for that.

Over many years, I've been involved in lobbying the Commission over
environmental directives and also involved in CEN Standards committees.
As a result, I've been able to get a view on different countries'
attitudes to adopting EU Directives. I broadly concur with your
experiences and views. We tend to have a much more adversarial and
litigious approach - almost as if we are half way across The Pond.