ECJ ruling on Bulgaria trans law, implications for future UK cases

[ReturnOfTheReal]

Not sure if there is a thread about this already.

The TRAs are crowing about this latest win at the ECJ. Bulgarian national law defines sex as strictly biological and doesn't let trans people change their "gender" on official documents. The ECJ ruled against Bulgaria's position.

Obviously the UK has the GRA but I'm not sure what it means if we ever have to defend a "biological sex" case in Europe.

Unfortunately I don't have a share token but the yahoo link has a free article about the same subject.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/12/bulgarias-trans-law-breaks-eu-rules/

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/top-eu-court-delivers-landmark-160347076.html

The ECJ (actually now called the CJEU, Court of Justice of the European Union) is the EU's court and therefore of no direct relevance to the UK post Brexit.

The European Court of Human Rights is the court of the Council of Europe which is totally separate from the EU and of which the UK is still a member. The ECtHR's decisions do have a direct impact on the UK. It was the ECtHR's decision in the Godwin case that meant the UK had to introduce a system of "gender recognition" which it did by the GRA.

If I remember the Godwin case correctly it was because the NHS as a government funded system had paid for the ‘sex change’ operation then they had to follow through and recognise him as a woman, and because at the time women retired before men it would have been obvious to his employer he was still male if he continued working after age 60.

So if the NHS didn’t fund gender nonsense and retirement age had been equalised sooner then we may not be in the mess we are now!

The most extraordinary thing about this case is that the judges have tried to award themselves powers they don’t have; they do not have power over sovereign countries.

It seems to be largely to do with freedom of movement. Which British people no longer have, of course.

Same as the Supreme Court and Scotland? 😉
The EU countries have agreed to have a common top level court that can rule on certain national cases, after those have been brought before the court by one of the parties.

Not at all the same as the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the most senior Scottish court and determines what the law says. It does not direct Parliament (Scottish or UK) to change the law.

There was a similar judgment against Hungary in IIRC, 2024. AFAIK, Hungary continues to ignore it.

Gift link (hope I’ve got this right) Bulgaria’s trans law breaks EU rules
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/7ff8178715f1fccf

We're not in the EU.

We know. But just like we care about the abuse of children that are not our own, we also care about the mistreatment of women and girls in the EU.