Imprecision of domestic legislation for gender changes in civil-status records in
Georgia (ECtHR: A.D. et al v Georgia – Judgment of 01.12.2022)

In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of A.D. and Others v. Georgia (application no. 57864/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:
– a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The applicants are transgender men (assigned female at birth). The case concerned their complaints that they had been unable to obtain legal recognition of their gender because they had not undergone sex reassignment surgery.

The Court found in particular that, despite the fact that the right to have one’s sex changed in civilstatus records had existed in Georgia since 1998, there had not apparently been one single case of successful legal gender recognition. The imprecision of the current domestic legislation undermined the availability of legal gender recognition in practice, and the lack of a clear legal framework left the domestic authorities with excessive discretionary powers, which could lead to arbitrary decisions in the examination of applications. Such a situation was fundamentally at odds with the respondent State’s duty to provide quick, transparent and accessible procedures for legal gender recognition.

A legal summary of this case will be available in the Court’s database HUDOC (link).

See: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22002-13909%22]}