Court of Appeal orders DNA test to establish paternity of teenager

 

A child’s right to know who her biological parents are is recognised internationally as a basic right of critical importance, said the Court of Appeal.

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has held that the courts have power to issue an order compelling a minor to take a DNA test to determine paternity.

Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said it is in the child’s best interest to know the “truth of (her) origin”.

“The right of a child to know who his or her biological parents are has been internationally recognised as a basic right of critical importance,” Vazeer said in a paternity dispute case today.

Ads by Kiosked

The lawsuit was brought by a man, claiming to be the biological father of a teenage girl, against her mother and her mother’s husband.

-ADVERTISEMENT-

Ads by 

He wanted the court to order the teenager to undergo a DNA test to determine her paternity.

The man alleged that he had an affair with the teenager’s mother before her marriage and that the affair lasted until the teenager was six years old.

The man also claimed that he had given about RM1,000 in monthly child support to the teenager in the past.

He also claimed the mother had told him on several occasions that the teenager was his daughter.

The High Court had in 2021 allowed the man’s suit and ordered the teenager to do a DNA test, citing that the courts have the power to order such a test.

Ads by Kiosked

The couple appealed against that decision.

Affirming the High Court’s ruling today, Vazeer said the lower court was correct to adopt the common law principle that it had inherent jurisdiction to order a DNA test on a child in the circumstances of the case.

Vazeer said both the English and Indian courts used the same common law principle to make orders which were deemed to be in a child’s best interest.

“The objective of the courts is to always find out the truth.

“When scientific advances give us fresh means of ascertaining it, we should not hesitate to use those means whenever required,” he said.

The other judges who sat with Vazeer were Justice Gunalan Muniandy and Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Ads by Kiosked

The court made no order as to costs.

After the decision, the couple’s lawyer, Kiran Dhaliwal, urged the court to grant a stay of execution of the DNA order, as her clients intend to file an application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court.

The court granted the stay after lawyer Honey Tan, appearing for the man, did not object. - FMT