January is traditionally the time when new bits of legislation sneak in when nobody's looking. You know, the Act comes in with its pomp and cymbals and everybody gets to grips with what it means before we all swan off for the summer. But there are always some bits left over for the following January, and before we've properly sobered up from Hogmanay they're here and we've forgotten all about them.
For example, on 19 January the third EU Directive concerning the issuing of driving licences came into effect in the UK. I, along with most people, had completely forgotten about it. The fact that there is now the option to have a microchip in newly-issued licences had fallen under my radar, as had the amendment to the licencing rules allowing moped riders to ride quad bikes. Ooer!
When it comes to EU legislation, however, the opposite is often the case. For instance, the EU Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing comes into force on 1 January across all member states. Or rather it doesn't.
According to DEFRA: "Although Regulation 1099/2009 applies automatically in all Member States including the UK from 1 January 2013, there will be no immediate change to the existing legal framework in England." There you are then, or not.
• For real January madness, though, you've got to cross the pond. This year saw the first vote in Congress on New Year's Day since the Korean War. It was to avoid the so-called Fiscal Cliff (not Howard's replacement on the Halifax ad), although a last-minute measure little regarded elsewhere cut Medicare payments to a Swedish manufacturer of radiation tools to treat brain tumours, while maintaining those of its California-based competitor. So, despite facing financial paralysis, the Senate – or rather its leader – can still find time to play politics with people's health. Do I smell a trade war?
• America's other big January fun event only occurs every three years. It is when the Library of Congress publishes its exemptions from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The legislation was originally designed to prevent copyright infringement by companies of other companies, and transmogrified into a way for creatives to protect their work from unauthorised copying – all laudable aims. Unfortunately, the Act is so loosely drafted that it falls prey to unintended misuse. Congress turned over to its Librarian the task of periodically issuing exemptions to tidy it up, but there are times when even that doesn't work. This year the Library declined to renew an exemption regarding the unlocking of mobile phones, so it is now against the law in the US to unlock your phone.
• Now, in the Expert Witness Directory of Your Expert Witness are to be found experts in intellectual property and in the analysis of mobile phone data – but not, as far as I know, in the unlocking of such devices. Similarly, there are experts in European law and in animal welfare – but not in the increasingly complex world of driving licence categories. Maybe there's a niche.
Chris Stokes