With all the laws of our country, you would wish to have some amazing laws, right? The true nature of laws is not to make the country awesome in the first place. However, wouldn’t it be nice and fun if we had laws which most people can enjoy.
Well, we were able to grab and study some of the best and most creative foreign laws in the world. I’m pretty sure that you’ll wonder why our previous presidents never thought of these… And I do not have an answer to that as well.
Sliding scale for fines – Finland
Here in the Philippines, when you get caught speeding, your fine will be the same no matter how much you earn or how much your tax is. In Finland, this is not the case. If you get caught speeding, you’ll be fined depending on the speeder’s income. They determine your average daily expenses, cut that number in half, then multiply by days from 1 to 120 depending on how serious your case is. In 2015, a successful Finnish businessman named Reima Kuisla was pulled over for going 64 mph (102.998 km/h) in a 50 mph zone. Can you guess his fine? Well, it’s only 54, 000 Euros which is equivalent to more than $60, 000.
Paid parental leave law – Estonia
A few months back, the senate approved the 120-day maternity leave. But, this leaves the dad exempted. It also became a discussion to extend the paternal leave to 15 days but the issue was not closed. Most countries have paid maternal leaves while a few number of countries don’t. In that don’t, what I mean is that it is their company’s decision if they will approve this leave or not. Take a look at this chart of maternal leaves around the globe.
As you can see, there are countries that provide their people paid maternal leaves but there are also countries that don’t.
Estonia, on the other hand took it to a different level. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that Estonia allows up to 87 weeks of 100% paid leave for every new parent. Well that’s more than a year and a half. Wouldn’t this law be great to our situation?
Nationalized health care system – France
Here in the Philippines, we cannot deny the fact that one of the more expensive things is health. Furthermore, we Filipinos, as much as possible, try to avoid being ill or else, a staggering medical bill is just right our bedside. Yes, since the era of our new president, they are trying to cope and improve the health care system but what chances do they have against France?
France ranks first in the WHO’s (World Health Organization) 2000 World Health Report. Why? Because their government handles most medical bills of their citizens. Although citizens can get their own personal private supplemental insurance, it’s still their decision and this law right here is fairly written.
Bicycle safety laws – Netherlands
Two years ago, around 818 cyclists died in the motor vehicles incident in the United States. The prior year, 185 cyclists in the Netherlands were killed as well; so they devised a law to protect their cyclists. In 1999, the Dutch government created the Dutch Bicycle Master Plan which gives privilege to cyclists over vehicle drivers.
Let’s take this as an example; if a bicycle and a car collides in the Netherlands, the driver’s insurance is on the line right away. Dutch cities continues to improve and find ways to make cycling even safer. After all the tragedies involving bicycles, it was surely positively responded to by the Dutch government.
Urban agriculture law – Cuba
Cuba had an unfortunate encounter with the Soviet Union which in turn molded them to what they are now. From that time, the Cuban government realized that the occurrence was a great opportunity for them to be healthier. Moreover, it allowed for more sovereign and efficient food base by implementing an urban agriculture law. And what does this law do? Well it’s just allowing unused land to be plotted with crops for food production – legally and without a price.
Mandatory paid vacation – European Union
While some countries like the U.S do not allow paid vacations, the European Union took it up a notch and declared it mandatory. Whilst here in the Philippines, paid leaves are dependent on the company, the points or credits are still earned depending on your regularity and position. So, the European Union labor law gives its workers 4 weeks of paid vacation time each year. Yes this is on top of sick leaves, vacation leaves, holidays, and other paid leaves under the European Union.
Back in 2012, the European Union Court of Justice even imposed “a worker who becomes unfit during his paid annual leave is entitled at a later point to a period of leave of the same duration as that of his sick leave.”
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a rule like this?
Now I know that not all countries’ rules can be the same; it’s just because cultures are different and the way they discipline their people is not the same as well. But, just thinking about it, have you ever thought of these laws to be implemented by our government? Would it be of big aid if they really did?
