A nonsense criminal charge that exists, AFAIK, only in Scotland. It covers almost any act that could be construed to cause an interruption to the peace, meaning loud behaviour, drunkeness, fighting or the general act of having a good time.
The law is commonly used by police in Scotland when someone has got on their nerves or when they are in the least bit annoyed with their jobs. It is almost impossible to refute the charges since it is such a broadly scoped law.
At one point a friend of mine was charged with attempted breach of the peace, which I can only assume meant being about to be loud or holding the glass to your lips, just about to get drunk.
"Breach of the peace is broad and flexible as an offence. .... As a common-law offence, it incurs
a maximum penalty of life imprisonment following a conviction or indictment in the High Court"
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
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