Equality Commission in Northern Ireland claims it needs clarity from High Court before implementing Supreme Court Judgement

[UtopiaPlanitia]

The title of the thread says it all.

The ECNI claims that existing sex discrimination law from earlier decades doesn’t define what male and female mean in NI, and that the Good Friday Agreement plus Windsor Framework might also have unforeseen implications on implementing the UK Supreme Court judgment in NI so it is necessary to ask the High Court for a determination.

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/further-uncertainty-over-supreme-court-ruling-as-equality-watchdog-stalls-guidance-over-windsor-framework-5197905

Oh good. Another big loss in court for GLP will be helpful for establishing the case law that some argue is necessary.

I did wonder if ECNI lacked basic reading comprehension in not bringing able to apply the ruling yet, and then I wondered how they could justify making up and using a new definition of woman not endorsed by the Supreme Court.

I agree, I found ECNI’s behaviour in response to the SC ruling strange and confusing. Now some of it makes sense (even if the rest of it still baffles).

This may also be of interest to the thread. David Thompson (late of Nolan Investigates Stonewall) tweeted today:

https://x.com/NewsLetter_Pols/status/1943765321263067417

Fair play to BBC Northern Ireland for acknowledging issues with this part of its coverage on the Supreme Court sex ruling.

Other parts of the organisation should take note, and be more willing to admit mistakes. We all make them.

Text from the screenshot in his tweet below:

'The State of Us
BBC Sounds, 9 May 2025

Episode 2 of this series looked at issues around the UK Supreme Court's judgement in For Women v The Scottish Ministers and its potential effect in Northern Ireland (which has different equality-related legislation).

We have since edited our original recording to include the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland's interim guidance (from April 2025) - providing useful additional context for our discussion. Other edits/clarifications were also made in relation to: the meaning of 'statutory interpretation'; what the court's judgement might actually mean in terms of access to single sex spaces/facilities; our summary of what a named contributor had said about the need for immediate change in this area in Northern Ireland; and to avoid any suggestion that we were taking a view on whether policy decisions ahead of substantive ECNI guidance could be seen as pre-emptive.
10/7/2025'

I am inclined to think that that the ECNI's approach is "slowly, slowly, catchee monkey". They know where this will end up so they are just letting the river flow.

That’s what I’m hoping is the case. But as a woman living in NI it’s very frustrating to be behind the times with regards to women’s rights, as we have been so many times in the past.

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere, and if so please direct me! The consultation for this closes tomorrow and I’d like to make sure I add weight to anyone who has responded, but like PP have said, it’s a lengthy document and I’d like to make sure I don’t miss anything. Does anyone know if guidance for responding has been issued by any of our supportive organisations, please?