APPLICATION TO APPEAR ON THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE’S LIST OF BODIES
THAT MAY CARRY OUT PARENTAGE TESTS DIRECTED BY A COURT UNDER
SECTION 20 OF THE FAMILY LAW REFORM ACT 1969
[Company Name]
[Address 1]
[Address 2]
[Address 3]
[Postcode]
To:
Family Operations Team
HMCTS
1.42, 1st Floor
102, Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
1. Please treat this as an application for [name of organisation] to be added to
the list of bodies which may carry out court-directed parentage tests pursuant
to section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969.
Scientific testing standards
2. I attach the laboratory’s original/a certified copy of (delete as appropriate) its
certificate of accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. This is issued by an accreditation
body which complies with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011 and is a full
member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), or a
body that is a signatory to an ILAC Recognised Regional Cooperational Body.
The certificate provides accreditation for the period _____________ to
____________.
Code of Practice
3. I undertake that we [Name of Organisation] comply with the Human Genetic
Commission's Common Frame Work of Principals (or any revised version
thereof) when undertaking court directed tests pursuant to section 20 of the
Family Law Reform Act 1969 made under powers contained in section 22 of
the Family Law Reform Act 1969 during the currency of our accreditation by
the Ministry of Justice. The Common Frame of Principals can be found at
http://www.bshg.org.uk/Principles.pdf
Compliance with UK statutory requirements
4. I undertake that we [Name of Organisation] will comply, or ensure
compliance with procedures set out in Blood Tests (Evidence of Paternity)
Regulations 1971 (SI 1971/1861) as amended (or any revised versions
thereof) during the currency of our ISO accreditation.
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5. In particular, I, [Name of Organisation] attach a flow chart of how we will
ensure compliance with the above named act with regard to:



the taking of the sample by a “sampler”
the dispatch of the sample to the “tester”,
and, the method in which the report will be sent to the court
Note: a “sampler” is defined by the act as:
“sampler” - a registered medical practitioner, or a person who is under the
supervision of such a practitioner and is either a registered nurse or a
registered [biomedical scientist], or a tester;
It is therefore totally unacceptable for an intermediary organisation to
be used to collect samples unless they are also an accredited tester.
A tester being defined by the act as:
“tester” - an individual employed to carry out tests by a body which has been
accredited for the purposes of section 20 of the Act either by the Lord
Chancellor or by a body appointed by him for those purposes and which has
been nominated in a direction to carry out tests;
Data protection
6. I undertake that we [Name of Organisation] will ensure that the processing
of personal data by us will only ever be conducted where there is an
adequate level of data protection, in accordance with the requirements of
paragraph 8 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998 and
Article 25 of Directive 95/46/EC.
7. Furthermore, I [Name of Organisation] attach a statement to this application
form setting out how we achieve adequacy and, where applicable, attach a
certified copy of our certificate evidencing current membership of a scheme
judged by the European Commission to meet the requirements of Directive
95/46/EC.
Retention period for DNA samples and records
8. I undertake that we [Name of Organisation] will only retain personal data for
as long as is necessary to serve the purpose of a section 20 direction. The
maximum retention periods are 6 months for the retention of a DNA sample
and 12 months for the retention of records created as a result of a section 20
court-directed test.
Advertising and misrepresentation
9. I undertake that we [Name of Organisation] will limit any statement regarding
its MoJ accredited status in promotional material, advertising, or web-site
information to the following:
“[Name of Organisation] is a body that has been accredited by the Ministry of
Justice as a body that may carry out parentage tests directed by the civil
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courts in England and Wales under section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act
1969”.

Please note that we regard phrases such as 'Government approved', 'Lord
Chancellor approved' or 'MoJ approved' as misleading and therefore not
acceptable.

We also believe the expression "Court approved" is inaccurate and misleading
because it implies the parentage test results will be automatically accepted into
evidence by the court. Bodies are, of course, free to make (accurate) claims about
their past performance.
General
10. I understand that we [Name of organisation] will be removed from the MoJ
accredited list on the expiry of its accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. If the
laboratory wishes to remain on the accredited list the original or a certified
copy of a renewed accreditation certificate must be forwarded to arrive on or
before the expiry of the current certificate.
11. I understand that from time to time the MoJ will review the criteria which
should be met by organisations wishing to be added to/remain on the list of
bodies which may carry out court directed parentage tests under section 20
and the criteria are subject to change/additions.
12. I also understand that we [Name of Organisation] will be asked to submit to
an annual review to ensure that it is still eligible to appear on the list of bodies
able to carry out court directed parentage tests under section 20. This will
include giving renewed undertakings as set out above and ensuring
compliance with any revised criteria.
Signed…………………………………………………………….
Name………………………………………………………………
Date………………………………………………………………..
Status/Position within testing body……………………………..
Address …………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
Phone number……………………………………………………
E-mail ……………………………………………………
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