23 Jan Violation of Article 8 due to the complicated and prolonged registration procedure of sex change on the birth certificate

The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 8 – on account of the lack of a regulatory framework ensuring the right to respect for the applicant’s private life in the case X v. ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ (application no. 29683/16, 17.01.2019)

The case concerned administrative proceedings in which the applicant, who is transgender, had sought to have the sex/gender marker on the birth certificate changed.

At birth X was registered as a girl, with a clearly female name. From an early age X became aware that he was male rather than female. In 2010 X went to a specialist clinic in Belgrade, where a psychologist and sexologist diagnosed him with “transsexuality”.

In June 2011 X applied for a change of his first and family name. The Ministry of the Interior allowed that application, registering X under a clearly male forename and issued X with a new identity card. However, the sex/gender marker and numerical personal code remained the same, identifying X as a female.

In July 2011 X requested to have the sex/gender marker and the numerical personal code on his birth certificate corrected to indicate that he was male. However, the Ministry of Justice (“the Ministry”) dismissed X’s application on the grounds that there was no official document showing the applicant had changed gender.

In June 2013 the applicant underwent a double mastectomy (breast removal) in Belgrade and continued his hormone therapy. However, in December 2014 the Ministry again dismissed his request. Fresh proceedings before the Administrative Court are still ongoing.

Relying in particular on Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life), X complained of the absence of a regulatory framework for legal gender recognition and the arbitrary imposition of a requirement for genital surgery.

The Court found that the circumstances of the case reveal legislative gaps and serious deficiencies that leave the applicant in a situation of distressing uncertainty vis-à-vis his private life and the recognition of his identity. The protracted examination of the applicant’s claim, for which the national authorities bore sole responsibility, is having long-term negative consequences for his mental health. The foregoing considerations are sufficient to enable the Court to conclude that the current legal framework in the respondent State does not provide “quick, transparent and accessible procedures” for changing on birth certificates the registered sex of transgender people. Therefore, the Court concluded that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

References from the offical webiste of the European Court of Human Rights