Conservatives issued a ‘never-before-used’ Section 35 because of the ‘adverse effects’ the Gender Recognition Reform Bill would have had on UK-wide laws.
Scotland’s highest civil court has ruled that the UK Government’s blocking of a law, which would have enabled anyone over the age of 16 to self-identify their gender, was lawful.
The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, would have allowed anyone over the age of sixteen to self-ID via a statutory declaration to obtain a new birth certificate, which changes the recording of their registered sex at birth to their chosen gender.
But the UK government blocked the bill in January, citing its “adverse impact” on UK-wide equalities protection, earlier this year.
The Scottish Government then mounted a legal challenge after Westminster issued an unprecedented Section 35 order of the Scotland Act to prevent the bill from receiving royal assent.
Dismiss the Petition
In her ruling published on Friday, Lady Haldane, who presided over two days of evidence at Edinburgh’s Court of Session in September, said: “The challenge to the order pronounced under section 35 of the 1998 Act, laid on 17 January 2023, fails.
“In so…
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