Scottish Government wins legal case over definition of woman

A legal challenge against the Scottish Government’s definition of a woman in law has been thrown out.

Campaign group For Women Scotland complained a bill aiming to balance gender representation on public boards included trans people under the definition.

After winning a challenge earlier in 2022, they returned to court saying the law still conflated sex and gender.

But on Tuesday, Judge Lady Haldane said that the definition of “‘sex’ is not limited to biological or birth sex”, in the context of the bill.

She said it included people in possession of a GRC (gender recognition certificate) obtained in “accordance with the 2004 Act stating their acquired gender, and thus their sex”.

Lady Haldane said that her ruling did not “give rise to any conflict with” legislation where it was clear thar “sex” meant biological sex.

For Women Scotland’s KC Aidan O’Neill referred to the Forensic Medical Services Act which allows a victim to have access to an examiner of the same biological sex as themselves.

Lady Haldane said she agreed and said there were “no doubt many other such examples”.

The decision comes a week before reforms in Scotland are set to make it easier for people to legally change their gender.

The change in legislation would mean people applying for a gender recognition certificate would no longer need a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

The Bill also drops the minimum age for applications from 18 to 16 and decreases the level of time needed to live in one’s acquired gender from two years to three months with a further three-month reflection period.

For Women Scotland said: “We’re disappointed to report that we were not successful with the judicial review.

“We’re still reading through the court decision and analysing the consequences for both the public boards act and the wider impact on the GRR (Gender Recognition Reform) bill.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are pleased to note the outcome of this challenge.”