These Rules amend the County Court (Blood Tests) Rules (Northern Ireland) 1978 to take account of recent amendments made to Part III of the Family Law Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 by section 3 of the Family Law Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 (C. 12). Previously, Part III of the 1977 Order permitted blood tests to be used to determine paternity in civil proceedings. The amendments make it possible for samples to be taken of bodily fluid and bodily tissue (eg. hair, skin, saliva), rather than simply blood, and for scientific tests to be used to determine whether a person is the mother of the person whose parentage falls to be determined, as well as whether a person is the father.
↧