43   Certificate evidence

(1)  Any analyst analysing any plant or substance submitted to the analyst or under whose supervision the analysis of any plant or substance submitted to the analyst is carried out may give a certificate of the result of the analysis.

(2)  In any legal proceedings under this Act, the production of a certificate, purporting to be signed by an analyst, shall be prima facie evidence of the identity of the plant or substance analysed, the quantity or mass of the plant or substance analysed and of the result of the analysis, without proof of the signature, employment or appointment of the person appearing to have signed the certificate.

(3)  Any appointed person analysing any plant submitted to the person may give a certificate of the result of the analysis.

(4)  In any legal proceedings under this Act, the production of a certificate, purporting to be signed by an appointed person, is prima facie evidence of:

(a)  the identity of the plant analysed, and

(b)  the quantity or mass of that plant,

      without proof of the signature or appointment of the person appearing to have signed the certificate, but only if the plant identified is cannabis plant or cannabis leaf.

(5)  The Director-General of the Department of Industry and Investment may appoint a person to give certificates for the purposes of this section if the Director-General considers the person to be suitably qualified.

(6)  In this section:

analyst means:

(a)  any person employed by the Government of New South Wales as an analyst (including a person employed as an analyst in the NSW Health Service), and

(b)  any person who is an analyst within the meaning of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966, and

(c)  a person who:

(i)  is an analyst (however described) under a law of another State or Territory that corresponds to this Act, and

(ii)  is, or belongs to a class, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

appointed person means a person appointed under subsection (5).

plant includes any part of a plant, and the achene and seed of a plant.