Laurens
New Member
I was introduced to this concept at work when a colleague mentioned it.
The basic premise seems to be that statutes and acts require consent and therefore are inapplicable to those who do not give their consent. These "Freemen" claim that the law they operate under is common law. This is generally used as an excuse not to pay taxes, parking fines, car insurance etc. It's worth noting that to my knowledge nobody who pulls this shit in court has ever had the judge say "yeah you know what, statutes don't apply to you, you're free to go". Most often these people end up in a worse position than if they had just paid their fines and whatnot, because they will often get slapped with contempt of court too.
I don't get it really. Obviously I can see the appeal of something that apparently allows you to get out of paying your council tax, but I don't understand how people so readily accept it without question. Perhaps schools need to teach Law at least at a basic level so that we aren't so easily fooled by pseudo-legal bollocks?
Even if it were true, surely a prerequisite for using roads---which are build and maintained using road tax---is that you agree to pay your road tax, in other words you consent to the statutes. Surely the converse of being a Freeman is that you do not get to use the NHS, or have your bins taken out, get income support, or have the police protect you? I doubt many of these people truly live without these benefits. In any case doesn't being a citizen require that you accept the laws of that country?
You can read a bit more about them here and here.
I did do some research on youtube, but mostly I get videos of unemployed people being rude to bailiffs and wasting police time. I suggest its not worth your time looking there.
Anyway I figured this would be an interesting topic.
The basic premise seems to be that statutes and acts require consent and therefore are inapplicable to those who do not give their consent. These "Freemen" claim that the law they operate under is common law. This is generally used as an excuse not to pay taxes, parking fines, car insurance etc. It's worth noting that to my knowledge nobody who pulls this shit in court has ever had the judge say "yeah you know what, statutes don't apply to you, you're free to go". Most often these people end up in a worse position than if they had just paid their fines and whatnot, because they will often get slapped with contempt of court too.
I don't get it really. Obviously I can see the appeal of something that apparently allows you to get out of paying your council tax, but I don't understand how people so readily accept it without question. Perhaps schools need to teach Law at least at a basic level so that we aren't so easily fooled by pseudo-legal bollocks?
Even if it were true, surely a prerequisite for using roads---which are build and maintained using road tax---is that you agree to pay your road tax, in other words you consent to the statutes. Surely the converse of being a Freeman is that you do not get to use the NHS, or have your bins taken out, get income support, or have the police protect you? I doubt many of these people truly live without these benefits. In any case doesn't being a citizen require that you accept the laws of that country?
You can read a bit more about them here and here.
I did do some research on youtube, but mostly I get videos of unemployed people being rude to bailiffs and wasting police time. I suggest its not worth your time looking there.
Anyway I figured this would be an interesting topic.