In the Scottish Courts
| DOI | 10.1177/002201837203600306 |
| Published date | 01 July 1972 |
| Date | 01 July 1972 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
In
the Scottish Courts
ROAD
SAFETY
ACT-"PURPORTING
TO BE SIGNED BY A MEDICAL
PRACTITIONER"
Herron
v.
McInnes
THE sole point in issue in
Herron
v.
McInnes
(High
Court
on
appeal, February 1972 unreported) was whether the certifi-
cate produced to prove
that
aspecimen of blood
had
been taken
from the accused with his consent, was in
due
form,
and
in
particular whether it purported to be signed by a medical
practitioner.
S.3(9) of the
Road
Safety Act 1967 provides
that
for the
purposes of proceedings
under
S.I
of the Act (as were the proceed-
ings in this case)
"a
certificate purporting to be signed by a
medical practitioner
that
he took a specimen of blood from a
person with his consent shall be evidence of the matters so
certified,
and
of the qualifications of the medical practitioner".
The
certificate in the instant case bore the heading,
"Form
of
Certificate for the purpose ofs.3(9) of the
Road
Safety Act 1967."
It
contained astatement introduced by the words
"I
hereby
certify", which went on to say
that
the signer of the certificate
had
taken aspecimen at a particular time
and
place from the accused
with his consent,
and
that
the specimen
had
been duly divided
and
labelled.
It
was signed "S. W. Donnelly",
and
the space
marked
"Medical
Qualifications" was filled in with the letters
"M.B.
Ch.B."
This
was the only reference to the qualifications of
"S. W. Donnelly".
The
defence argued,
and
the sheriff (Middleton) accepted,
that
this was
not
acertificate purporting to be signed by a medical
practitioner, since it nowhere so described "S. W. Donnelly".
The
sheriffheld
that
aperson with the academic qualifications
ofM.B.
and
Ch.B. was
not
necessarily a medical practitioner, although
such qualifications were normally held by medical practitioners.
His Lordship also referred to the provision of s.29 of the Medical
Act 1956
that
acertificate required by an enactment to be signed
by a medical practitioner
and
must be signed by one who is
fully registered. S.7 of
that
Act requires as a prerequisite to full
178
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