§ [No. 7]
§ Clause 18, page 14, line 12, at end insert "or from any, or any two, of those persons".
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, with Amendment No. 7 I can 992 also discuss Amendment No. 9. Amendment No. 7 is one of substance: No. 9 is an unimportant consequential Amendment. At present, Clause 18 is framed I so as to allow only what may be called three-way blood tests; that is, tests on the child, the mother and the alleged father. This is in that Part of the Bill which deals with blood tests. This will undoubtedly be the type of test directed by the court in the vast majority of cases, as it is the best and most certain. The purpose of these Amendments is to allow the court, in the very rare case where it may seem desirable, to order a two-way test on the child and alleged father alone, or even, although it seems a rather academic possibility, a one-way test on either the child or the alleged father alone where there are in existence records concerning the blood group of the other against which the sample test can be checked. I can deal with this point in more detail if necessary. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 7.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(The Lord Chancellor.)
VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSSI rise simply to welcome this Amendment. No doubt the occasions will be rare, but I suppose it is possible that the party alleged to be the father of the child may be dead, or in some other way not available, and as the Bill was drafted before this Amendment was put in it looked as though this would hamper the court in requiring the blood test to be carried out. There are other reasons, no doubt, which could raise themselves in this connection, but I should think that this flexibility was admirable.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.