Why Catalytic Converters??

[75LTD]

This topic has come up on a thread and I didn't want to keep going off topic in that thread so I started this to get people's opinions.
The subject is, WTF are they there for & how would the LAW stand up in Court if challenged.
I know it's 'illegal' to have them hollow or remove them and thats been well covered elsewhere so if we could move on to the Common Sense of the Law side of it. First some quote's I've Googled.

Medical Journal of Australia:
Objective: To examine the trends in motor vehicle exhaust gas suicides since 1970 and to investigate the impact of catalytic converters.
Design: Australia-wide database analyses and a retrospective stratified series of 100 Victorian cases.
Data sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1970-1995; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, National Injury Surveillance Unit, 1991/92-1995/96; Victorian Coroner's files, 1994-1996.
Results: There were 509 motor vehicle exhaust gas suicides in Australia in 1995, representing 22% of total suicides. Since the 1986 requirements for reduced carbon monoxide emissions from new vehicles (and thus the use of catalytic converters), the absolute numbers and rates of such suicides have increased, and they have come to represent a larger percentage of total suicides. Of 75 Victorian victims' vehicles traced, 36% were manufactured during or after 1986, showing that exhaust gas suicides have occurred in vehicles with catalytic converters. Blood carboxyhaemoglobin levels did not differ between victims using vehicles with or without catalytic converters. Between 1976 and 1991 exhaust gas suicides increased at a faster rate than motor vehicle registrations. Australian hospital admissions for exhaust gas suicide attempts have increased substantially since 1991-1992.
Conclusion: Catalytic converters and the associated lower CO emission limits of 9.3 g/km had not, by 1995, resulted in a reduction in numbers, rates or percentages of exhaust gas suicides in Australia.
So they're not safer.

BP Fuels don't recommend it either:


Sulphur in fuel contributes directly to the emission of sulphur dioxide into the environment and while the majority of sulphur dioxide emissions are produced by industry and domestic heating, a significant amount is also emitted by motor vehicles. Sulphur dioxide, in turn, leads to the formation of sulphate particles which can be associated with a variety of health effects, and contribute to the visible haze familiar to anyone who has walked or cycled alongside traffic congested roads. Sulphur dioxide can also lead to the secondary formation of highly corrosive sulphuric acid which can lead to building damage.

Good news for your catalytic converter :

And sulphur also has an indirect effect on exhaust emissions. The sulphur present in fuel reduces the efficiency of your car’s catalytic converter which means that over time it loses its ability to reduce the harmful emissions from your engine.

According to posts on this site Cats dont even work until they are hot.
So, these cats that work part time but dont do anything, how does one help my car & how would all this stand up in a court?
I wonder..