Maritime Transport Act 1994

Regulation of alcohol consumption by seafarers

40Q: Presumptions relating to blood specimens

You could also call this:

"What is assumed to be true about blood tests in court cases"

Illustration for Maritime Transport Act 1994

You are involved in a court case about drinking alcohol while working on a ship. The court will assume some things are true unless someone proves they are not. If a certificate says a blood sample was taken from someone with your name, address, and job, the court will think it was taken from you, unless proven otherwise. You can ask for copies of certificates about your blood sample. The prosecutor must give them to you or your lawyer if you ask. These certificates might be about who took the sample or what was in the container with the sample. The court also assumes that the person who signed the certificate was allowed to do so. It is also assumed that the container with the blood sample had a special substance to keep it safe.

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Part 4ARegulation of alcohol consumption by seafarers

40QPresumptions relating to blood specimens

  1. In proceedings for an offence against this Part, it is to be presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that,—

  2. if a certificate referred to in section 40P names a person having the same name, address, and occupation as the defendant as the person from whom the specimen of blood was taken, the specimen was taken from the defendant:
    1. every approved analyst who signed a certificate referred to in section 40O(5) was duly authorised to sign it:
      1. if the container in which a blood specimen (or part of a blood specimen) was placed was received by a medical practitioner or medical officer in a sealed blood specimen collecting kit, the container contained a substance (whether or not a combination or mixture of 2 or more substances) and that substance was a preservative and anti-coagulant.
        1. On the request of a person from whom a blood specimen has been taken under section 40L or 40M, or of the person's lawyer, copies of any certificates referred to in subsection (1) that relate to that blood specimen must be supplied by the prosecutor to the person making the request.

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        Notes
        • Section 40Q: inserted, on , by section 12 of the Maritime Transport Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 84).