The Blood Tests (Evidence of Paternity) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002
These Regulations amend the Blood Tests (Evidence of Paternity) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1978 to give effect to amendments made to Part III of the Family Law Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 by the Family Law Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 (c. 12) and the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (c. 4). Part III of the 1977 Order permits blood tests to be used to determine paternity in civil proceedings. The amendments make it possible for samples to be taken of bodily tissue and bodily fluid other than blood and for scientific tests to be used to establish whether a person is the mother of the person whose parentage falls to be determined, as well as whether a person is the father. They provide that tests are to be carried out by an accredited body, rather than a named individual and lay down the conditions which a body must meet if it is to be accredited. They also reflect the courts' new jurisdiction to order that a sample be taken from a person under 16, where it would be in his best interests for the sample to be taken, even though the person with care and control of him does not consent.