Page 753 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2018
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The bill includes changes to allow a coroner to authorise a person to conduct routine non-invasive examinations such as taking blood samples, bone tissue, body fluids and hair, subject to having regard to distress or offence to a person because of their cultural attitudes or spiritual beliefs. Taking medical samples can be a very sensitive area, engaging personal, cultural and human rights considerations. This is expressly recognised in the explanatory statement. These points are laid out in the explanatory statement for reference, and I will not repeat them, but anyone with an interest can refer. This is, again, an area worthy of ongoing monitoring.
Other changes in the bill are more mechanical in nature. The Evidence Act 2011, the Legislation Act 2001 and the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1991 have clarified the process for ACT courts to take evidence and submissions allowing audiovisual links or audio links with other places in ACT proceedings.
The Judicial Commissions Act 1994 has been amended to: allow the ACT Judicial Council to delegate its early dismissal of complaints function to the judicial commission staff in a limited range of circumstances; clarify when a judicial officer is considered to have failed to comply with a request to undergo a medical examination; and amend the situations in which the ACT Judicial Council is required to report to the Attorney-General to support the independence of the Judicial Council.
There are changes to the Juries Act 1967 which include minor matters but also deal with the provision of reasonable support for jurors with a disability. We raised the issue of support animals with the Attorney-General’s office, a matter which has received some publicity of late. We have been informed that this provision may include support animals; we will continue to look at this area as well as others we have raised.
Amendments to the Oaths and Affirmations Act 1994 have removed inconsistencies in the text for an oath or affirmation by a witness or interpreter and reflect the more modern form of the oath and affirmation in the Evidence Act.
The Supreme Court Act 1933 has been amended to expand the jurisdiction of the associate judge to include the Supreme Court when its jurisdiction is exercisable by a single judge.
There are other amendments, including to the Utilities Act, which has been amended to increase the compensation limit for ACAT consideration of energy and water complaints to $25,000. Here I would raise the concerns about no-cost jurisdictions I mentioned earlier.
Again, as always, I would like to thank the professional bodies, in particular, the Bar Association and the Law Society, for their feedback on this bill. I thank the Attorney-General’s office for answering a number of questions on issues that my staff, particularly Ian Hagan, had with this bill. As I said at the outset, we will be supporting this legislation.
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