Presumption respecting age of child
139(1)Where a person is charged with an offence under this Act involving a child who is alleged in the information to be under a specified age,
(a)
testimony of a parent of the child as to the age of the child is admissible as evidence of the age of the child,
(b)
an original or a copy of a birth or baptismal certificate purporting to be certified under the hand of the person in whose custody such records are held is evidence of the age of the child named in the certificate or copy, and
(c)
an entry or record of an incorporated society that has had the control or care of the child at or about the time the child came to Canada is evidence of the age of that child, if the entry or record was made before the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed.
139(2)The judge may receive and act upon any other information relating to age that the judge considers reliable if it is impracticable to obtain a certificate, copy, entry or record mentioned in subsection (1).
139(3)In any proceedings referred to in subsection (1), the judge may draw inferences as to the age of the child from the child’s appearance or from statements made by the child in direct examination or cross-examination.
1987, c.4, s.6; 1997, c.2, s.24