New Zealand Legislation: Acts

8 Evidence and proof of paternity

• (1) If, pursuant to—

  • (a) Any provision of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995 or the corresponding provision of any former Act (within the meaning of that Act); or

  • (b) Any provision of any law of any country to which section 44A of the Evidence Act 1908 applies,—

  the name of the father of the child to whom an entry relates has been entered (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) in the Register of Births, or, in the case of any country to which section 44A of the Evidence Act 1908 applies, in a register of that country relating to births, a certified copy of the entry made or given and purporting to be signed or sealed in accordance with that Act or that law shall be prima facie evidence that the person named as the father is the father of the child.

  (2) Any instrument signed by the mother of a child and by any person acknowledging that he is the father of the child shall, if executed as a deed or by each of those persons in the presence of a solicitor, be prima facie evidence that the person named as the father is the father of the child.

  (3) A paternity order within the meaning of the Domestic Proceedings Act 1968 (or an affiliation order under any corresponding former Act) shall, subject to section 52 of that Act, be prima facie evidence of paternity in any subsequent proceedings, whether or not between the same parties.

  (4) Subject to subsection (1) of section 7 of this Act, a declaration made under section 10 of this Act shall, for all purposes, be conclusive proof of the matters contained in it.

  (5) An order made in any country outside New Zealand declaring a person to be the father of a child, being an order to which this subsection applies pursuant to subsection (6) of this section, shall be prima facie evidence that the person declared the father is the father of the child.

  (6) The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, declare that subsection (5) of this section applies with respect to orders made by any Court or public authority in any specified country outside New Zealand or by any specified Court or public authority in any such country. For the purposes of this subsection, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau shall be deemed to be countries outside New Zealand.

  Subsection (1) was amended, as from 13 December 1979, by section 2 Status of Children Amendment Act 1979 by inserting the words “or subsection (2)”.

  Subsection (1) was substituted, as from 19 March 1990, by section 2 Status of Children Amendment Act 1990 (1990 No 15).

  Subsection (1)(a) was substituted, as from 1 September 1995, by section 95 Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act 1995 (1995 No 16).

  Section 8(1)(a): amended, on 24 January 2009, by section 47 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 48).

  Subsection (3) was amended, as from 8 December 1971, by section 2 Status of Children Amendment Act 1971 (1971 No 132) by inserting, after the word “shall”, the words “, subject to section 52 of that Act,”.

  Subsection (3) was further amended, as from 4 October 1980, by section 25 Evidence Amendment Act (No 2) 1980 (1980 No 27) by inserting the words “(or an affiliation order under any corresponding former Act)”.

  The word “Tokelau” in subsection (6) was substituted, as from 9 December 1976, for the words “Tokelau Islands” pursuant to section 3(8) Tokelau Amendment Act 1976 (1976 No 122).