Jones v White

The appeal in Jones v White was against the dismissal of a complaint of an offence of driving under the influence of alcohol under section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 1974 (WA). The appellant argued that the evidence from the analysis of a breath sample taken using a Drager Alcotest 7110, a type of self-testing breath analysis equipment, was not admissible because the Road Traffic (Breath Analysis) Regulations 1975 (WA) did not specify the Drager Alcotest 7110. The Magistrate agreed with this argument and dismissed the complaint. The Supreme Court of Western Australia allowed the appeal, finding that the Regulations did apply to the Drager Alcotest 7110 and that the evidence was admissible. The Court held that the relevant provisions of the Act and the Regulations, as amended in 1987, formed a legislative scheme for the purposes of facilitating the use of the Drager Alcotest 7110. The Court also held that the phrase "relating to" in section 68(6) of the Act was potentially wide and that its operation must be determined by the statutory context and purpose. The Court found that the Regulations were regulations allowed for by the subsection and that they applied to the Drager Alcotest 7110. The Court quashed the decision of the Magistrate dismissing the complaint and remitted the matter to the Magistrate for it to be dealt with in accordance with these reasons.