Ms Natalie Gamble:

The checklist is section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. If the Deputy has a look at my briefing paper, it summarises what those requirements are. Yes, it is set out in law and legislation. It is also expanded upon by case law. Over a number of years, we have had many cases where people have not quite ticked the boxes for various reasons, but the judges have wanted to get to the end result of awarding parentage to the right people. Some of those requirements have been stretched by the case law. One starts with the legislation, but one would also need to understand all the case law around it. For example, I know that Dr. Horsey mentioned earlier that the legislation states that parents must apply for parentage within six months of the birth, but we now have case law wherein judges have stated that it is such an important order for the child that parliament did not really mean "must", and must have intended to allow the judges some discretion. The court now can give permission for people to make applications beyond six months. I would recommend starting with section 54, but it should be borne in mind that it has been expanded a little by real case decisions.