zero point nine

Photographers Beware #

Posted on: October 5, 2008 - 8:38 pm

Warning. It is now illegal to take photographs in public in Scotland. I say ‘illegal’, there is in fact no law against public photography, but you can be charged with breach of the peace, a catch all offence with no statutory definition, if the sheriff deems your behaviour ‘unchivalrous’.

“I’m going to impose a fine to remind him chivalry is not dead and when somebody is in distress you leave them to it.” Said Sheriff Kenneth Hogg.

Is that a Sheriff’s job now, to punish people who don’t act in a way that the Sheriff deems proper? And what does he mean by ‘leave them to it’? If someone is genuinely in distress you should go to their aid surely?

Now I might disagree, but the law is the law, and I look forward to the Scottish Courts retroactively seeking to prosecute Nick Ut for his unchivalrous acts of photography.

Tagged as: edinburgh, law, photography