Judgment in Foy case now available

9 May 2008

The approved judgment of Justice Liam Mc Kechnie of 19 October 2007 is now available. To read or download a copy of the judgment please consult the courts website.

The High Court held last year that Irish law, by its refusal to recognise the acquired gender of transgendered persons, is incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This was the first declaration of incompatibility under the European Convention on Human Rights Act, 2003.

Now the Irish Government has appealed this decision to the Supreme Court with the result that the law is likely to remain unchanged for up to 2.5 years, leaving Ireland as one of only a tiny handful of countries in the Council of Europe that do not legally recognise the position of transgendered persons.

FLAC is disappointed at the Government's failure to act on the strong urging by the High Court judge to legislate now to ease the plight of members of the transgender community. FLAC will continue to represent Ms Lydia Foy in her bid to secure legal recognition which commenced 11 years ago in 1997.