The Supreme Court of Western Australia has no inherent jurisdiction to order an adult defendant of full capacity to submit to a mouth swab or other bodily sample for DNA analysis in civil proceedings. The earlier decision in Hallett v Cottam [2007] WASC 147, which held such a power existed, is no longer good law. In the absence of legislative provision (which exists in most other Australian jurisdictions but not in Western Australia), a party seeking DNA evidence from an unwilling adult defendant cannot obtain a court order compelling submission to the procedure. The question of whether Order 28 rule 1 of the Rules of the Supreme Court could authorise such an order remains open.
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