European Union abolishes the British acre

European Union abolishes the British acre
The acre, one of Britain's historic imperial measurements, is to be banned from use under a new European directive. The measurement, which will officially be replaced by the hectare, will no longer be allowed when land is being registered. After being agreed last week, the new ruling will come into force in January 2010. The Tories are angry that unlike some other EU countries, who sent Cabinet-level ministers to the meeting on 15 July, the Government only sent Jonathan Shaw, a junior minister at the Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs, to represent Britain's interests. Mark Francois, the Shadow Europe Minister said: "It is this kind of pointless interference into the nooks and crannies of our national life that frustrates people about the EU. Whether we use hectares or acres should be a matter for Britain to decide, not the EU. "Once again this weak Labour Government has meekly given up yet another of Britain's rights to Brussels. They need to think again and insist that we must keep our right to use our ancient traditional measure of land if we wish." snip http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2437913/European-Union-abolishes-the-British-acre.html

Possibly selfish reasons: all my life I've been taught in hectares - and the rest of the metric system - so it'd make my life easier.

You're a solicitor aren't you? You have to convert acres and hectares in conveyancing I assume?

I'm a lawyer (not a solicitor as not qualified, unfortunately). Never dealt with conveyancing, so I've no idea if you have to convert things. I deal with this area (for some reason the web link won't work!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costs_(English_law) Obscure in public terms, but quite wide in legal terms.

You're a law costs draftsman then?

Reasonable enough line of work. Must be intersting trying to keep the solicitors honest with their time sheets though. As a matter of interest, who checks the costs of the law cost draftsmen?

Reasonable enough line of work. Must be intersting trying to keep the solicitors honest with their time sheets though. As a matter of interest, who checks the costs of the law cost draftsmen? 1. Believe me it can be a bit depressing seeing how much time has been clocked up compared to what a Court is likely to award... It's not just timesheets you have to take into account, there's various other things, e.g. dealing with "No win no fee" cases (always a joy!), legal aid cases, complying with existing Court orders on costs (e.g. you side's lost a hearing and have to pay the other's costs), having to provide costs estimates at various stages of Court proceedings (so the other side have a rough idea of how much they're likely to have to pay if they lose), etc. 2. The Courts give guidelines rates. They apply to all lawyers in England and Wales from a Senior Partner in a multi-national law firm in the City to some little "flat above a shop" firm in some rural area. Obviously it depends on the facts of the case itself though, i.e. the more complex it is the more you're likely to get. (Costs Draftsmen usually fall within Grade D) In the end, if you're unable to come to an agreement with the other side over the costs bit of a case, it could go to a final Court hearing simply on the costs aspect where the judge will have the final say. Quite a fun and varied job.

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