(1) The Minister may,
by instrument, appoint appropriately qualified persons to be analysts for the
purposes of this Act.
(2) Subject to
subsection (4), a certificate signed by an analyst appointed under
subsection (1) setting out, in relation to a substance, one or more of
the following:
(a) when
and from whom the substance was received;
(b) what
labels or other means of identifying the substance accompanied it when it was
received;
(c) what
container the substance was in when it was received;
(d) a
description of the substance received;
(e) that
he or she has analysed or examined the substance;
(f) the
date on which the analysis or examination was carried out;
(g) the
method used in conducting the analysis or examination;
(h) the
results of the analysis or examination,
is in any proceedings for an offence against this Act proof, in the absence of
proof to the contrary, of the matters in the certificate and the correctness
of the results of the analysis or examination.
(3) For the purposes
of this section, a document purporting to be a certificate referred to in
subsection (2) shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such
a certificate.
(4) A certificate
referred to in subsection (2) shall not be received in evidence in
pursuance of that subsection unless the person charged has been given a copy
of the certificate together with reasonable notice of the intention of the
prosecution to produce the certificate as evidence in the proceedings.
(5) Where, in
pursuance of subsection (2), a certificate of an analyst appointed under
subsection (1) is admitted in evidence, the person charged 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.
(6)
Subsection (5) does not entitle a person to require an analyst to be
called as a witness for the prosecution unless—
(a) the
prosecutor has been given at least 5 days notice of the person's intention to
require the analyst to be so called; or
(b) the
court, by order, allows the person to require the analyst to be so called.