Legislative Background
The law relating to weights and measures was consolidated in 1985 in the Weights and Measures Act. Section 1 of the Act provides that both the pound and the kilogram are equally legal units of measurement in the United Kingdom.
In 1994, several statutory instruments came into force bringing the United Kingdom into compliance with Directive 80/181/EEC which aimed to harmonise the use in the European Community of units of measurement.
Amongst the measures enacted were the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (Metrication) (Amendment) Order 1994 and the Units of Measurement Regulations 1994. Without modifying the basic principle in Section 1 of the 1985 Act that the pound and the kilogram enjoyed parity, the Order specified that the use of the pound as a primary indicator of measurement for trade would be illegal after 1 January 2000 and would be a criminal offence under Section 8 of the 1985 Act. The 1994 Regulations permitted the continued display of imperial measures until 2010 so long as the metric equivalent also appeared alongside, and at least as prominently.
The Units of Measures Regulations 1994 was introduced on the basis of Sections 2(2) and (4) of the European Communities Act 1972 which authorised Ministers to pass secondary legislation in order to bring the UK into closer compliance with its then obligations under EU law. This is a so-called Henry VIII clause.
Read more about this topic: Thoburn V Sunderland City Council
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