The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has warmly welcomed today’s groundbreaking High Court judgment in the Lydia Foy case.
Speaking shortly after the release of the judgment, ICCL Director Mr Mark Kelly said:
“The Foy judgment makes clear that Irish law is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights because it fails to legally recognise the new sexual identity of post-operative transgendered people. The ICCL warmly welcomes Mr Justice McKechnie’s innovative use of the case law of the Strasbourg Court to spotlight this human rights deficiency in Irish law.”
“Most other European countries already respect the autonomy of transgendered people by ensuring that their birth certificates accurately record their new identities. The ICCL calls upon the Government to heed this judgment, and to act promptly to ensure that the human rights of transgendered people living in Ireland are fully respected” he concluded.
For further information contact Amy Pearson @ 087 998 1574.
Note to editors:
Lydia Foy was registered at birth as male, but has undergone gender reassignment surgery, and now lives permanently as a female. For the past decade, she has been engaged in legal action in the Irish courts to obtain a birth certificate that accurately records her new identity.
By virtue of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003, the High Court and the Supreme Court can issue declarations that statutory provisions are incompatible with Ireland’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Although this does not immediately invalidate the law concerned, the Taoiseach must bring declarations of incompatibility to the attention of the Oireachtas within twenty-one days. Changing the law to bring it into conformity with Ireland’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights is a matter for the Oireachtas.
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