OpenLegislation

Explanatory note

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Magistrates' Courts (Blood Tests) Rules 1971 to give effect to amendments made to Part III of the Family Law Reform Act 1969 by the Family Law Reform Act 1987 (c. 42) and the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c. 19). Part III 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. Form 1 is deleted as being no longer necessary.