My buddy and I were discussing the allowed blood alcohol content for driving (purely hypothetically) and how it varies across countries and then we stumbled upon the question in the title. Would be curious to hear if you guys know any good examples.
My buddy and I were discussing the allowed blood alcohol content for driving (purely hypothetically) and how it varies across countries and then we stumbled upon the question in the title. Would be curious to hear if you guys know any good examples.
Something that is practically not enforced is that it is a minor offense for barkeepers to give drunk people more to drink.
An important thing to differentiate is the youth protection laws compared with the US. In Germany it is not illegal for minors to be in the posession of alcohol or to drink alcohol. It is the responsibility of the adults around them, to not sell or give them alcohol as well as to prevent them from drinking.
And that is very important, because in the US the teenagers get punished by law for being caught with alcohol, which is completely wrong. The idea of these laws is that minors are not yet responsible enough for handling alcohol properly. So it is logical that it is societies responsibility to protect them from alcohol. But the minors cannot know any better, as is the spirit of the law.
It is completely wrong to hold someone responsible for something that you declare him to be incapable of being responsible for. I think this example illustrates well, how legal systems can focus on deterrence and retaliation or how they can focus on integration and rehabilitation. (It is a spectrum of course)