Public Health Act 1997

This section applies in relation to a proceeding for an offence against the following Acts:

this Act;

the Criminal Code;

the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989;

the Food Act 2001;

the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2008.

A certificate under this section may state any of the following matters in relation to a substance:

that the analyst is appointed as analyst under section 15 (Appointment of analysts);

that the analyst is authorised under section 15A (Functions of analysts) for an Act or provision of an Act;

when and from whom the substance was received;

what (if any) labels, or other means of identifying the substance, accompanied the substance when it was received;

what container or containers the substance was contained in when it was received;

a description, and the weight, of the substance received;

if the substance, or any part of it, is analysed—

the name of the method of analysis; and

the results of the analysis;

how the substance was dealt with after handling by the analyst, including details of—

the quantity retained; and

the name of the person (if any) to whom any retained quantity was given; and

measures taken to secure any retained quantity;

that the certificate was signed by the analyst or was signed on behalf of the analyst.

A certificate under this section is admissible in a proceeding for an offence against an Act mentioned in subsection (1), and is evidence of the facts stated in it, if a copy of the certificate is served by the party who obtained the analysis on the other party to the proceeding at least 14 days before the hearing of the offence to which the certificate relates.

However, a court may order, at the request of a party to the proceedings or on its own initiative, that the period mentioned in subsection (3) be reduced to the period stated in the court’s order.

An analyst who carried out an analysis in relation to which a certificate under this section is produced as evidence in a proceeding for an offence against an Act mentioned in subsection (1) need not be called as a witness in the proceedings by the party producing the certificate unless the court hearing the proceedings orders, at the request of a party to the proceedings or on its own initiative, that the analyst be called as a witness.

If the certificate of an analyst is admitted in evidence in a proceeding, the defendant may require the analyst to be called as a witness for the prosecution and the analyst may be cross‑examined as if the analyst had given evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

Subsection (6) does not entitle a person to require the analyst to be called as a witness for the prosecution unless—

the prosecutor has been given at least 4 days notice of the person’s intention to require the analyst to be called; or

the court, by order, allows the analyst to be so called.

If an analyst issues a certificate under this section in relation to a proceeding for an offence against the Criminal Code or the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989, the analyst must give a copy of the certificate to the chief police officer.