At 4 October 2005, 01:06 PM, Pat Naughtin wrote:
Companies that do business internationally must already be aware of
the issue of any contract's validity.
Most nations now prescribe SI in their legal system since it
provides a logical framework for all measurements in science,
industry, and commerce. Often there is debate about the value of
older systems but the legal basis of most nations' international
trade is now SI.
Contracts written using old units (lbs, ft etc) or even wrong units
(micron, mils) may well be challenged in local or international
courts since it is possible that they could render contracts unenforceable.
I know that the Australian law specifically provides for a contract
to be 'null and void' if any unit other than an 'Australian legal
unit of measurement' is used in a contract.
What you say may be true of contracts between parties within a
specific country, but I would be very surprised if it were true of
contracts between parties from different countries. Meaning, how
would Australia command the sovereignty to dictate units of measure
to companies from other countries?
There are probably two issues here: international contract law (what
laws governing contracts have been agreed on between the respective
nations) and "choice of law," which is choosing which laws apply in a
specific circumstance. For example, company US contracts to supply
company AU (Australia) with built-to-order widgets to be shipped to
a site in Malaysia. These products are destroyed in a fire on a ship
registered in Liberia while in international water. Which law applies?
I am not pretending to know the answers, but would suggest that the
situation is more complex than any country simply declaring
non-metric units void.
Jim Elwell
