(1)Part III of the M1Family Law Reform Act 1969 (tests for determining parentage) shall be amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (4).
(2)In section 20 (power of the court to require tests)—
(a)for subsections (1A) and (1B) (nomination of the person by whom tests are to be carried out) there shall be substituted—
“(1A)Tests required by a direction under this section may only be carried out by a body which has been accredited for the purposes of this section by—
(a)the Lord Chancellor, or
(b)a body appointed by him for the purpose.”;
(b)in subsection (2)—
(i)for “person responsible for” there shall be substituted “individual”, and
(ii)after “this section” there shall be inserted “(“the tester”)”;
(c)in subsection (4), for “the person who made the report” there shall be substituted “the tester”; and
(d)in subsection (5)—
(i)for “the person responsible for carrying out the tests taken for the purpose of giving effect to the direction, or any” there shall be substituted “the tester, or any other”,
(ii)for “that person” there shall be substituted “the tester or that other person”, and
(iii)after “and where” there shall be inserted “the tester or”.
(3)In section 21 (consents, etc, required for the taking of blood samples), in subsection (3), for the words “if the person who has the care and control of him consents” there shall be substituted—
“(a)if the person who has the care and control of him consents; or
(b)where that person does not consent, if the court considers that it would be in his best interests for the sample to be taken.”
(4)In section 22(1) (power of Lord Chancellor to make further provision relating to tests for determining parentage)—
(a)in paragraph (a) (power to provide that bodily samples are not to be taken except by such medical practitioners as may be appointed by the Lord Chancellor), for the words from “such medical practitioners” to the end there shall be substituted “registered medical practitioners or members of such professional bodies as may be prescribed by the regulations;”, and
(b)for paragraph (e) (power to provide that scientific tests are not to be carried out except by persons appointed by the Lord Chancellor) there shall be substituted—
“(e)prescribe conditions which a body must meet in order to be eligible for accreditation for the purposes of section 20 of this Act;”.
(5)The amendments made by this section shall not have effect in relation to any proceedings pending at the commencement of this section.
Marginal Citations