Declaration of paternity — DNA sample — balance of probabilities — Status of Children Act 1969, ss 8 & 10 — Evidence Act 2006, s 141 — Family Proceedings Act 1980, s 54 — Z v Dental Complaints Assessment Committee [2008] NZSC 55. This was an application for a declaration as to paternity. The applicant, an ethnic Cambodian and New Zealand citizen, had met the respondent and they had a brief sexual relationship while the applicant was on a trip back to Cambodia. She subsequently informed him she was pregnant. Supporting evidence in the form of a signed statement from the respondent and witnessed by a Cambodian attorney that the applicant was the child's father was produced, as well as a Cambodian certificate of birth listing both parties as the parents. The respondent gave her permission for the applicant to be declared at law to be the child's father and for the child to live permanently with him in New Zealand. However the respondent refused to engage in, or even discuss, DNA testing. In order to make a paternity declaration a court had to be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the applicant was the biological father of the child. Under s 141 of the Evidence Act, a foreign official document is presumed to be what it purports to be unless the contrary is proved. The Judge therefore accepted the certificate of birth as such under this provision; however, there was an issue with the unexplained three-year delay in having the child's birth registered. The Judge also noted that, while there had been no recommendation by the Court thus far that a DNA test be carried out, it had been suggested almost two years prior by counsel to assist. Given the delay in registering the birth, and the ability of the applicant to require a DNA test to be undertaken, the Judge recommended that the DNA parentage test be undertaken by the applicant and the child. The proceeding was adjourned for one year to give the applicant enough time to have the test done and to apply for legal aid. Judgment Date: 27 September 2020. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *