What the police did at the roadside, and what the certificate means

4.1The testing sequence

The roadside procedure has three stages. A preliminary oral fluid test is conducted at the roadside under Schedule 3 of the Act; a positive preliminary result authorises a further oral fluid test, usually in a police vehicle or at a station, using an approved device; a positive further test authorises the taking of a sample for laboratory analysis, and the laboratory issues a certificate of analysis identifying the drug detected [review: the Schedule 3 provisions, the approved devices, and the time limits within which each stage must occur, understood to be two hours from driving for oral fluid and four hours for blood]. Refusal or failure to provide a sample is a separate and more serious offence.

4.2The certificate as evidence

The certificate is admissible as evidence of the matters stated in it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of those matters [review: the certificate provisions and the notice required to require the analyst's attendance]. The effect is that the presence element is proved by tender unless the defence points to evidence that the certificate is wrong. The lines of challenge are procedural: the time between driving and sampling, the authority of the officer conducting the confirmatory test, the device used, the sealing and transmission of the sample, and whether the certificate identifies the drug by reference to the prescribed list. A practitioner checks each of these against the brief as a matter of routine.

4.3Blood samples after a collision

Where the driver attended hospital after a collision, the sample will usually be blood taken by a medical practitioner under the compulsory blood-sampling provisions [review]. The chain of custody rules differ and are more frequently defective, and any matter with a hospital sample is referred for advice before a plea is entered.

4.4What the client may ask police for

The client may request, in writing, a copy of the certificate of analysis, the times recorded for each test and the drug identified. The request is procedural and does not describe the incident. Anything the client says about when or why the drug was consumed is an admission, closes the mistake defence, and will appear in the facts sheet.