GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1987 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 323

HOUSE BILL 1023

 

AN ACT PROVIDING THAT THE PSYCHOLOGIST-CLIENT PRIVILEGE IS WAIVED FOR CHILD ABUSE REPORTS TO THE SAME EXTENT AS THE PHYSICIAN-PATIENT AND HUSBAND-WIFE PRIVILEGES.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 7A-551 reads as rewritten:

"§ 7A-551. Privileges not grounds for excluding evidence.-Neither the physician-patient privilege, the psychologist-client privilege, nor the husband-wife privilege shall be grounds for excluding evidence of abuse or neglect in any judicial proceeding (civil, criminal, or juvenile) in which a juvenile's abuse or neglect is in issue nor in any judicial proceeding resulting from a report submitted under this Article, both as said privileges relate to the competency of the witness and to the exclusion of confidential communications."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 8-53.3 is amended by adding a new paragraph at the end of the section, to read:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the psychologist-client privilege shall not be grounds for excluding evidence regarding the abuse or neglect of a child, or an illness of or injuries to a child, or the cause thereof, in any judicial proceeding related to a report pursuant to the Child Abuse Reporting Law, Article 44 of Chapter 7A of the General Statutes."

Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 8th day of June, 1987.