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12 July 2024 / Jasmine Galvin
Issue: 8079 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Family , Equality , Discrimination
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Gender & the law: time for change

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181431
From pronouns to ‘legalease’—the legal world needs to adapt, argues Jasmine Galvin
  • Considers how the legal profession should respond to gender issues, particularly how family lawyers can be inclusive and supportive.

It is now 20 years since the creation of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and ten years on from the legalisation of gay marriage in the UK. This country is clearly capable of change and shows positive signs of becoming more inclusive.

Census 2021, England and Wales included a question on gender identity for the first time, with the result showing more than 260,000 people reported their gender identity as different to their sex registered at birth. So should the family justice system be better equipped to accommodate gender diversity? Is there a need for legal practitioners to adapt some of our historic legislation to enable everyone to feel they can access legal services without barriers—and, as non-binary/LGBTQIA+ communities continue to grow, are we able to make these changes to ensure inclusivity?

Pronouns

What

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

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Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

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DWF insurance services director appointed to Civil Justice Council

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R3—Jodie Wildridge

Kings Chambers barrister appointed chair of R3 Yorkshire

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The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

NLJ this week: Civil procedure gets a spring overhaul
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
NLJ this week: Why GP complaints are going nowhere
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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