The Lawbreakers of Slings and Arrows – part one
I occasionally have a lot of fun, just going through my Criminal Code and looking up all manner of things.
Now, Slings and Arrows. It’s a great series. Really, I love it to teeny tiny little pieces.
But what sort of laws get broken in it?
Tonight: Oliver Wells Head.
s182
Every one who
(a) neglects, without lawful excuse, to perform any duty that is imposed on him by law or that he undertakes with reference to the burial of a dead human body or human remains, or
(b) improperly or indecently interferes with or offers any indignity to a dead human body or human remains, whether buried or not,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
Right! Well, that’s Tennant gone and dealt with! Right?
Actually, no.
I’ll also take a look at the Synopsis:
The first offence is neglecting to perform a duty imposed by law or which the accused agrees to undertake in connection with burying a dead person. The prosecution must prove that the accused did not have a lawful excuse for such neglect of the body.
(Emphasis added for clarity.)
There’s quite a cool little possibility for a decent case here. In which the accused (our beloved Geoff!) would need to prove that this is what Oliver wanted, that he actually left it as a major request. That Anna also knows about it might help. Knowing Tennant, however, the paper itself is probably missing. But there’s the possibility for all sorts of witnesses here, all of whom would probably say the same thing: That this was Oliver’s request, and that therefore Geoffrey had lawful excuse to have his head cut off and the flesh taken from it and the skull kept to the theatre (or rather more often, on Geoffrey’s desk).
Okay! The Crown would be able to argue that, since it does not appear to have been a part of the main will, and may well have been a piece of whimsy on Oliver’s part, that Geoffrey had no lawful excuse – that this was just motivated by Geoffrey’s own hate, and that this was a major indignity. As far as I can make out, there is no lawyer’s witness on it – or, indeed, anybody’s.
Oliver himself would, of course, be yelling in the background, but with only Geoffrey to hear him.
So, did Geoffrey break the law? Or did he do his lawful duty?
Well, I’m going to say that he did his duty, and while it may not have been lawful, it was not, in the strictest of senses, unlawful either, given that this was, indeed, Oliver’s own signed request.
ETA: Thanks to a handly little link provided by
Next time: Stink Bombs.
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